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At a recent conference, a clinical psychologist who works with gifted students engaged the first author in an exciting and challenging conversation. As the authors discussed specific research and case studies involving gifted children, they realized that we were talking almost exclusively about the importance of context in defining and addressing giftedness. During the rest of the conference, they noticed the role of context in talent development in every session we attended. On the first author's return home, one question kept leaping into his mind: If the need to consider context comes up in most research sessions and so many practical applications, why don't we spend more time exploring its role in theories of giftedness? In this chapter, the authors explore the role of context in some classic and contemporary theories and models of giftedness, propose an alternative view, and explore the practical implications of that perspective. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

Gifted education is a crucial aspect of schooling in the United States and abroad. Most countries around the world have at least some form of gifted education. With the first edition becoming a major work in the field of giftedness, this second edition of Conceptions of Giftedness aims to describe the major conceptions of what it means to be gifted and how these conceptions apply to identification, instruction, and assessment of the gifted. It will provide specialists with a critical evaluation of various theories of giftedness, give practical advice to teachers and administrators on how to put theories of gifted education into practice, and enable the major researchers in the field to compare and contrast the strengths of their theoretical models. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: cover)

There are many ways to conceptualize giftedness, ranging from practical conceptualizations based on years of experience in working with gifted students to political conceptualizations based on moral principles. However, the distinguishing feature of the scientific study of giftedness is that theories are tested against evidence that has been collected using sound methodologies. The theme of this chapter is that there is value in the scientific study of giftedness, that is, in using an evidence-based approach to assessing the usefulness of various theories of giftedness and in assessing the effects of various academic programs for gifted students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

A decisive factor in the determination of effective gifted education is the fit between the individual cognitive and noncognitive (e.g., motivational and other personality) factors of the developmental and learning processes on the one hand and the environmental influences that are mainly from the social settings of family, school, and peers on the other hand. This chapter is based on multidimensional conceptions of giftedness and talent, such as the Munich Model of Giftedness (MMG), as well as on interaction models, such as the Aptitude-Treatment Interaction (ATI) by Cronbach and Snow (1977) and Corno and Snow (1986). When considering the MMG as an example of a multifactorial conception of giftedness, along with the recently developed dynamic process approach to this model (Munich Dynamic Ability-Achievement Model of Giftedness [MDAAM]), the following questions arise: How should gifted individuals be identified and instructed? And how should their learning outcomes or excellent performance be assessed? These and other questions will be answered according to the MMG and the MDAAM, respectively. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

In this chapter, the authors briefly review several conceptualizations of giftedness; review the scope of the underrepresentation and overprediction phenomenon for gifted students of color; elaborate on some of the causes of this national crisis; provide evidence of how the Meyerhoff Scholars Program (MSP) nurtures the academic excellence of gifted and talented students of color; discuss the theoretical constructs from the social sciences that they believe inform practices having to do with academic attitudinal and behavioral changes; and conclude with a discussion of those aspects of the program that can be transferred in efforts to reduce the overprediction phenomenon and increase the persistence and academic excellence of gifted and talented students of color. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

The research reviewed in this chapter highlights the complex choices made by talented girls and women as well as the belief that the outcomes of these choices are profound, both in the women's individual lives and for society at large. Over the last two decades, the author has studied talented girls and women from all domains across their life spans and have answered some questions, but introduced even more (Reis, 1987, 1995, 1998, 2001). The decision to identify this diverse group as talented or eminent rather than gifted stems from their collective preferences for these descriptors. Some of the complex reasons that fewer talented women with high potential achieve a high level of eminence and the characteristics of those who do are summarized in this chapter. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

This chapter looks at how conceptions of giftedness can change lives. The major obstructions to the realization of gifted potential are socioeducational, and they exist everywhere in the world in different forms. They can be summed up in just three powerful and overlapping aspects: (1) morality, (2) gender, and (3) emotion. These aspects are discussed in detail in this chapter, along with international differences in conceptions of giftedness, and the fact that strong pressure to conform to expectations--positive or negative--affects the gifted one's life paths for decades. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

In this chapter, the author outlines some of the potential complexities of giftedness and talent. His initial focus is on the innate, particularly genetic, features of giftedness. After scrutinizing the intricacies of genetic endowment, the author turns briefly to the role of the environment in converting potential giftedness into actual outstanding achievement. The chapter closes with a discussion of the more practical implications of this more complicated view of giftedness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

Conceptions of giftedness that focus on domain-specific considerations hold the most promise for promoting talent development in individuals at all stages of development because of the capacity to make appropriate correspondences between aptitudes and interventions, between predispositions and interests, and between the life of the mind and creating a life in the real world. Although general intelligence thresholds matter in real-world and school-based problem-solving situations, the level of g necessary to function at very high levels in specific domains remains debatable (Tannenbaum, 1996) and may depend greatly on a particular discipline or field (Jensen, 1998). This chapter explores the theories and applications of domain-specific giftedness as they have been articulated to date and analyzes how they differ from other conceptions of giftedness. The chapter concludes with applications of a domain-specific conception of giftedness to practice in the areas of identification, curriculum and instruction, and assessment in school and beyond. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

This chapter looks at a psychometric approach to the definition of academic giftedness. A historical overview of the scientific study of giftedness is given, and assessment of ability and achievement in terms of readiness is discussed. The author also explains the predictive usefulness of psychometric information, and why a psychometric definition of giftedness can be imperfect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

The WICS model is a possible common basis for identifying gifted individuals (Sternberg, 2003c). WICS is an acronym standing for Wisdom, Intelligence, Creativity, Synthesized. According to this model, wisdom, intelligence, and creativity are sine qua nons for the gifted leaders of the future. Without a synthesis of these three attributes, someone can be a decent contributor to society, and perhaps even a good one, but never a great one. In the remainder of this chapter, each of these attributes is discussed, although for didactic purposes, they are not discussed in the order in which they are stated in the acronym. The discussion starts with intelligence, which is a basis for creativity and wisdom and so should be discussed first. Then, creativity is discussed, which is essential in wisdom, as well. Finally, wisdom is discussed, which builds on but goes beyond intelligence and creativity. Then, methods are described for measuring the attributes. Finally, some general conclusions are drawn. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

This chapter outlines a view of creativity that pinpoints a mechanism that underlies all creative work, including that of children and adults, and that allows objective study and assessment. It is grounded in existing theories of lifespan development, and it translates easily to practice. Examples of such practices are discussed throughout this chapter. This chapter also compares this theory of creative giftedness with other existing theories. We will see that there are both points of agreement and points of disagreement. First, the mechanism underlying original and creative activity is described. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

In this chapter, the author provides a description of the major theoretical issues underlying various conceptions of giftedness, an overview of the three-ring conception of giftedness, some of the research that led to the initial development of the theory, and a brief description of research carried out in places that have used this model. Also included are a new dimension of the overall theory that deals with co-cognitive characteristics and a brief description of a plan for identifying students for special programs and services based on this conception of giftedness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

In this chapter, the authors have presented here a model of giftedness by referring to the specific domain of music. The model defines giftedness as a transitional process in which different characteristics contribute to the transformation of abilities into competencies and expertise and, in exceptional cases, into scholarly productivity or artistry. This transformation is made possible through the interaction of innate abilities and context, as specified at each stage. The authors have also outlined how they believe education can best facilitate the passage from abilities to competencies to expertise and scholarly productivity or artistry. They offer this model, based on research in the domain of music in the United States, as a useful framework for understanding, comparing, and nurturing talent development in other domains and other countries. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

In this chapter, the authors focus on extreme giftedness--individuals whose potential and/or achievement are several standard deviations above the norm. The authors focus their attention on children because they are interested in early signs of giftedness and in how such atypical children are best identified, assessed, and educated. Gifted children stand out in four striking ways. They are precocious in their domain of ability; they are passionate about and have a rage to master that domain; they think, learn, and solve problems in ways that are qualitatively different from typical children; and they are aware of being different from others. Those four ways are discussed, along with a number of ways to identify and evaluate giftedness, and educating extremely gifted students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

Giftedness, talent, expertise, and creative achievement are inextricably linked concepts. As we seek to understand the development of abilities in youth and the rise to high-level achievement in adulthood, these concepts may guide our efforts to nurture and establish conditions for their full fruition. The purpose of this chapter, then, is to examine the basic nature of giftedness, talent, expertise, and creative achievement and their interrelationships as they affect and guide the education of gifted and talented youth and to delineate guidelines for the development of high-level and creative achievement in adulthood. What genetic potentials and facilitative conditions combine and interact to produce expertise and/or high-level creative achievement? From exhaustive study of the lives of creative achievers, Gardner (1993) and Simonton (1997) offer some insights based on in-depth analysis of the lives of high-level, creative achievers. At first one is struck by the diversity among very high achievers: staid Albert Einstein, flamboyant Picasso, isolated Georgia O'Keefe, scholarly Darwin, and adventurous Ernest Hemingway! Are there common characteristics that might account for their genius or serve as predictors of creative achievement? Or are they too unique as examples of high-level achievement? Insights derived from research on the lives of great achievers are examined later in this chapter. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

In this chapter, the authors focus on making giftedness productive. Though fundamentally psychological and educational, their approach is derivative of the "new economics" that broadly applies well-established economic principles to explain human behavior outside its traditional monetary purview, including learning, human and social capital, marriage, divorce, crime, addictions, suicide, and other phenomena (Becker, 1976). This economic approach employs only a few central ideas to parsimoniously explain and predict a wide variety of human behavior. The chapter looks at conceptions, and psychological explanations of productive giftedness. Toward that end, this chapter explains the findings of our research program and sets forth what makes for exceptional performance in school and in nonacademic pursuits. It summarizes our studies of the childhood traits and environments of eminent men of Western history and of 20th-century American women, as well as the family and school environments of 20th-century gifted adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

At the outset of the chapter, it is pointed out that the concepts of gifts and talents have their origins in mythology, theology, and metaphysics. The main reason for their adoption into science was the compulsion to find explanatory concepts for the phenomenon that some persons attain a level of efficiency in a specific domain that normally cannot be achieved, even with extreme learning efforts and the best of support. To explain this phenomenon, the Actiotope Model of Giftedness places the focus on the actions of an individual and their evolution. The development of excellence is understood as an adaptation of a dynamic system, which intensifies in complexity through interactions with the objective structure of a domain, whereby with increasing excellence, the individual will also increasingly effect changes in the objective structure of the domain itself. This chapter also considers the coadaptation and coevolution of the components of the Actiotope, such as the action repertoire and its determinants, goals, subjective action space, and environment, as well as the interaction of these components within a network. Gifts and talents, which are traditionally understood as attributes of an individual, therefore, have several mothers and fathers. It is now time to recognize them by their true names. It is also time to give their talented children the chance to attain excellence by providing them with an individually tailored promotion of their entire Actiotope. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

In this chapter, advanced development and giftedness within the context of the school are discussed. The authors contention is that advanced development is the fundamental concept for understanding giftedness, and they attempt to explain our position by offering a definition, describing the roots of the definition--explaining the changes in our thinking--that have led to a deeper understanding of giftedness and schooling, and proposing a modified definition. The authors also discuss some implications of the ideas they have proposed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) was established at Johns Hopkins University in 1971 by Professor Julian Stanley to help youths who reason extremely well mathematically find the educational resources they need to achieve their full potential. After administering above-grade-level tests to identify students with advanced mathematical reasoning abilities, SMPY provided counseling and created programs to meet their academic needs. Eventually, university-based talent centers were established around the country to continue the practices SMPY pioneered. Because SMPY's methods for developing talent evolved over time in a very pragmatic way, that is, in response to the needs of individual students, the psychological and conceptual bases for this approach have not been especially emphasized in the literature. The first book-length report of SMPY's initial work was titled Mathematical Talent: Discovery, Description, and Development (Stanley et al., 1974). The three "D" words indicate the steps utilized by SMPY to find and serve talented youths. As a way to emphasize these steps, as well as the mathematical reasoning ability that the early talent searches involved, the book's title and this model of talent development was sometimes abbreviated to MT:D³. Later, a fourth D was added in acknowledgment of an increasingly important dimension: Dissemination of its principles, practices, and procedures. In this chapter, the conceptual and operational components of this model are summarized. It is meant to help youths who reason extremely well mathematically and/or verbally develop their talents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)