Attitudes toward science of gifted and nongifted fifth graders

The purpose of this investigation has been to explore whether differences existed between gifted and nongifted fifth graders and between genders and related subgroups with respect to attitudes toward science. Both groups (N = 25) were matched on the demographic characteristics of school-site, race, sex, and socio-economic background. Gifted students were found to have more positive attitudes toward science than nongifted students; however, no significant differences were found. In all cases, boys (all boys, gifted boys, and nongifted boys) exhibited more positive attitudes toward science; again, no significant differences were uncovered between the boys and their counterpart group or subgroups. The item which consistently reflected the most positive rating (gifted students, all boys and gifted boys, and all girls and nongifted girls) was “usefulness of things done in science class.” Items where discrepancies surfaced included “usefulness of science when playing at home” where nongifted students and gifted girls were significantly more positive than their counterparts, and “spending more time doing science experiments” where all boys and gifted boys were significantly more positive than their counterparts.     

Strategic and nonstrategic factors in gifted children's free recall

The present experiment contrasted the recall of gifted and nongifted middle-school children for sets of categorically related items. Subjects were given a single free-recall trial on each of two lists consisting of category-typical and category-atypical words. The typicality of the items for one list was based on each subject's unique typicality ratings, whereas the typicality of the items in the second list was based on adult norms. A preliminary category-rating task indicated that gifted students were somewhat more similar to adults in their ratings of category typicality than nongifted children. Recall was comparable between the gifted and nongifted subjects for typical items, but greater for the gifted subjects for atypical items. The latency between the recall of unrelated words was faster for the gifted than the nongifted children. Subjects were classified as strategic or nonstrategic on the basis of clustering and interitem latencies. Gifted subjects were less apt to be classified as strategic than nongifted subjects on the typical items of the self-generated list; there were no differences in the classification between the gifted and nongifted children for all other contrasts. These results were interpreted as indicating that the cognitive advantage of gifted relative to nongifted children is more apt to be in terms of nonstrategic rather than strategic functioning.     

Comparison of interrater reliability on the torrance tests of creative thinking for gifted and nongifted students

Despite their widespread use in identifying and evaluating programs for gifted and talented students, the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were standardized on samples that excluded gifted children. The interrater reliability of measures like the TTCT has been questioned repeatedly, yet studies with average students have demonstrated high interrater reliability. This study compares the interrater reliability of the TTCT for groups of gifted and nongifted elementary-school-aged students. Results indicated most interrater reliability coefficients exceeding .90 for both gifted and nongifted groups. However, multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant mean differences across the three self-trained raters for both gifted and nongifted groups. Consequently, use of a single scorer to evaluate TTCT protocols is recommended, especially where specific cutoff scores are used to select students.     

Maximal performance on divergent thinking tests by gifted,talented, and nongifted children

Explicit instructions to “be creative” often are used to estimate the role of task-perception in divergent thinking test performance; however, previous research on this topic has employed only nongifted individuals. The present investigation compared gifted (n = 97), talented (n = 53), and nongifted (n = 90) intermediate school children in terms of divergent thinking fluency, flexibility, and originality scores elicted by standard and explicit instructions. Results indicated that the scores of all groups were significantly different in the two instructional conditions. More importantly, there was a significant interaction between this instructional effect and children's level of ability. The explicit instructions enhanced the originality scores of the talented and nongifted children more than those of the gifted children; and the same instructions inhibited the fluency and flexibility scores of the gifted children more than those of the talented and nongifted children. These results have important implications for testing creativity and for our understanding of giftedness.     

Gifted Chinese girls get the best mix of family processes to bolster their math achievement

This chapter describes three studies with samples of 5th- and 6th-grade students (781 gifted and 895 nongifted) enrolled in elementary schools in Taipei, Taiwan. Two of the studies analyzed the effects of SES, family structure variables, family processes, math self-concept, and prior ability on children's math achievement; the third concerned a qualitative study of 95 gifted children and their parents. The results of these studies show tha SES variables influence family processes in a number of important ways. Better educated families administer less pressure and more support, and both processes contribute to children's achievement. Another important findings is that Chinese traditions moderate the parents use of specific family processes. Girls enrolled in typical classes perceive less parental pressure, less support, less help, and less intellectual resources. In a sense, these girls are academically neglected, but this does not hurt their math achievement because they do not perceive as much dysfunctional pressure and help from their parents. Gifted girls get the best mix of parental influences and academic opportunities.     

On a Pedestal: effects of intellectual‐giftedness and some implications for programme planning

The popular notion that gifted children are immune from adjustment problems because of their high intelligence has relegated this research area to a secondary concern. In this study, self‐esteem, social isolation, locus of control, alienation and anxiety as indices of psychosocial adjustment were explored among the gifted and nongifted adolescents in three secondary schools. The findings suggest that some gifted adolescents are more susceptible than the nongifted to various dysphoric and adjustment crises. The author contends that preventive guidance is necessary to assist gifted adolescents in developing appropriate coping skills. The conclusions are brought together in a discussion of some implications for gifted programme planning.     

Mentors’ contributions to gifted adolescents’ affective,social, and vocational development

Research on mentorships for gifted adolescents primarily has focused on the role mentors play in students’ academic success. Mentors’ contribution to gifted adolescents’ affective, social, and vocational development rarely has been addressed. This article identifies special needs and characteristics of gifted adolescents in these latter areas, and suggests how mentors can play a significant role in each, including the particular value of mentoring relationships for gifted adolescent females. Finally, educational implications are explored, as well as the need for empirical studies which examine the benefits derived by gifted and nongifted mentees from mentoring relationships.     

Construct validity of the K-ABC for gifted children

Fifty-four elementary-age gifted students were administered the K-ABC. To determine construct validity of the test for this population, the factor structure was obtained for mental processing and achievement subtests and then compared to the factor structure obtained for children from the standardization sample via a procedure that determines factor structure similiarity between groups. Except for minor variations, the factor structure for the gifted children was very similar to that for nongifted children in the standardization sample. However, the most parsimonious structure accounted for slightly less than 40% of the shared test variance, which leads to questions about the advisability of educational program planning based on obtained scores.     

LEISURE ACTIVITIES AS PREDICTORS OF GIFTEDNESS

The investigation of leisure time activities through lifespan analysis has revealed the importance of such activities in the prediction of later life achievements and creative products. They may be more reliable predictors of future performance than IQs, creativity test scores or school achievement. In the present paper creative leisure time activities are considered to be creative products. A total of 192 fifteen year old academic secondary school students were involved in the study: Creative leisure time inventories were filled out, Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices administered, and school grades recorded. Results indicated that differences in leisure time inventory scores between boys and girls with high intellectual potential were smaller than those of students with average potential. Girls were overrepresented in the “schoolhouse gifted” group, but in the “creative gifted” and “intellectually gifted” groups the ratio of girls and boys was balanced.     

The role of social capital in students’ perceptions of progress in higher education

This paper aims to analyse the effects of students’ social relationships at university on students’ success. Specifically, whether a student with heterogeneous relationships obtains better academic results than a student whose relationships are mostly with classmates. Further, the research examines whether students’ social relationships make up for their parents’ lack of human capital. A survey was answered by a sample of 867 students from universities in the metropolitan region of Barcelona. The findings suggest that the effects of social relationships are not always positive. The benefits of social networks at university interact with the type of degree studied, the student’s dedication to studies, and the student’s social class. Perceptions of progress for each category of students is different: It is more positive for those with frequent heterogeneous relations, who do not work or do so for a few hours, and for those who are enrolled in “hard” science courses.     

Factor structure of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (4th ed.) for gifted children

Administration of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (4th ed.) to 60 elementary school students resulted in means consistent with their “gifted” status. With two exceptions subtest “g” factor loadings from these children are similar to the g factor loadings from the standardization sample. An orthogonal rotation, varimax solution, resulted in four factors with eigenvalues greater than 1. Like the standardization sample, these gifted children yielded some subtest loadings which are consistent with the Stanford-Binet “model”; also like the standardization sample, not all the subtests loadings agreed with the model-based assignment. Results from a second factor analysis, a LISREL confirmatory analysis, also only partially supported the Binet model. Implications for interpretation are discussed.     

The social competence of highly gifted math and science adolescents

Involving 740 highly gifted math and science students from two different countries, Korea and the United States, this study examined how these gifted adolescents perceived their interpersonal ability and peer relationships and whether there were differences between these two groups by demographic variables. Based on the survey data, results showed that our gifted students perceived their interpersonal ability and peer relationships at levels comparable to or higher than those of their non-gifted counterparts. They were satisfied and confident with their peer relationships and did not identify negative effects of being gifted when forming and maintaining friendships. Differences were found between Korean and American students by gender in their profiles of interpersonal ability and peer relationships. Positive self-portrayal of social competence found for our sample disputed previous studies suggesting that highly gifted students tend to struggle with social relationships. Given that each group of students had different educational, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds, the results should also be interpreted with caution.     

Development of metacognitive concepts about thinking in gifted and nongifted children: Recent research

This article provides an overview of recent research in our laboratories on the development of metacognition in gifted and nongifted children. Research examining the development of children's metacognitive knowledge of mental activity concepts, general declarative metacognitive knowledge, and specific metacognitive attributions are reviewed. The present studies found, as had Alexander, Carr, and Schwanenflugel (1995), patterns of gifted and nongifted metacognitive development differed depending on the type of metacognitive knowledge being examined. Specifically, recent research on knowledge of mental activity concepts showed no clear advantages for gifted children over nongifted children. Declarative metacognitive knowledge research continues to support a monotonic advantage hypothesis in which gifted children show consistent advantages over nongifted children during the early elementary school years. This advantage, however, is short-lived due to the possible presence of a ceiling effect showing a closing of the declarative metacognitive knowledge gap between gifted and nongifted children around fourth grade. Finally, recent research on specific metacognitive attributions suggests that more intelligent children develop more sophisticated attributions over time but their ability to use this information may be more dependent on other individual differences variables that may or may not be related to intelligence such as knowledge base familiarity. We conclude that it is important to differentiate the types of metacognitive knowledge being measured in studies as we investigate individual differences in the development of children's metacognitive insights about thinking.     

The problem‐solving methods of mathematically gifted and older average‐attaining students

This paper examines some of the ways gifted students are said to be different from non‐gifted students by comparing the responses of 475, 9‐year‐old “gifted” students with those of 230 average‐attaining 13‐year‐old students on the same mathematical problem‐solving questions. The questions were specifically written for mathematically gifted 9 year olds as part of the World Class Tests project. The performance and approaches used by students in the two samples were found to be very similar, as was the frequency of different responses to the questions, suggesting that many of the mathematically “gifted” are not qualitatively different in their problem‐solving approaches from students of average ability, but are merely precocious.     

Motivational Preconditions for Girls Gifted and Highly Gifted in Physics

During their socialisation process, many girls gifted in physics acquire a reality construction inconsistent with their objectively measurable competencies. In comparison to boys they rate their action and problem solving competencies unrealistically low, which results, for example, in extremely low participation rates in scientific and technical studies and professions. For this reason differences in motivation and self‐related cognitions become the focus of interest in explaining achievement differences. The present study was carried out prior to initial physics instruction. Students in the 7th grade of the German Gymnasium (243 girls and 282 boys) were divided according to their KFT 4‐13+ results into “average”, “gifted” or “highly gifted groups”. Prior to commencement of physics instruction, boys in general, as well as gifted male and female students, already possessed more knowledge of physics and more favourable motivation for the subject than girls or male and female students of average ability. In addition, domain specific measures and self‐related cognitions were evaluated in accordance with Dweck's model of achievement motivation.     

Foreign language reading and spelling in gifted students with dyslexia in secondary education

A few studies suggest that gifted children with dyslexia have better literacy skills than averagely intelligent children with dyslexia. This finding aligns with the hypothesis that giftedness-related factors provide compensation for poor reading. The present study investigated whether, as in the native language (NL), the level of foreign language (FL) literacy of gifted students with dyslexia is higher than the literacy level of averagely intelligent students with dyslexia and whether this difference can be accounted for by the difference in their NL literacy level. The sample consisted of 148 Dutch native speaking secondary school students divided in four groups: dyslexia, gifted/dyslexia, typically developing (TD), and gifted. All students were assessed on word reading and orthographic knowledge in Dutch and English when they were in 7th or 8th grade. A subsample (n = 71) was (re)assessed on Dutch, English, French, and German literacy one year later. Results showed that Dutch gifted students with dyslexia have higher NL literacy levels than averagely intelligent students with dyslexia. As in the NL, a stepwise pattern of group differences was found for English word reading and spelling, i.e., dyslexia < gifted/dyslexia < TD < gifted. However, it was not found for French and German literacy performance. These results point towards compensation: the higher English literacy levels of gifted/dyslexic students compared to their averagely intelligent dyslexic peers result from mechanisms that are unique to English as a FL. Differences in results between FLs are discussed in terms of variation in orthographic transparency and exposure.     

IDENTIFICATION AND LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF DIFFERENT FORMS OF GIFTEDNESS IN OLDER ADOLESCENTS

This study involved an adaptation and evaluation of the Munich differential diagnostic instrument for the identification of gifted and highly gifted schoolchildren (KFT). An analysis was carried out of the relationship between various forms of giftedness and actual performance. A two step procedure was applied to select gifted students using a Teachers' Checklist, the KFT and tests of creativity. About 70 gifted youngsters were selected from 600 students. The label “gifted” was used for the top 6%‐10%, “highly gifted” for the top 3%–5% and “extremely gifted” for the highest scoring members of the group. The control group (70 unselected students) was investigated with the same methods. There were clear differences between the gifted, highly gifted and extremely gifted students in every domain of giftedness. Different forms of giftedness developed in the students during the three year period.     

Am I That Talented? The experiences of gifted individuals from diverse educational backgrounds at the postsecondary level

The experiences of gifted students at the postsecondary level have not been studied widely. The goal of the present study was to explore and describe gifted students’ perceptions of their first year after high school regarding experiences of success and failure. Two focus groups were conducted with 12 students (8 males, 4 females) from different educational backgrounds, who had participated in a university-based enrichment program, to discuss topics related to their academic and socio-emotional experiences at a postsecondary level. Many students who attended vocational high schools experienced high levels of discomfort with their academic preparedness to face postsecondary education. Other initial problems were adapting socially to a new environment and perceiving themselves as “less” gifted than their peers. However, after these initial adjustment problems, students revealed high perseverance to face difficulties and a strong motivation for continuing the academic path they had outlined for themselves. Conducting longitudinal research and rethinking college services offered for gifted students are some of the implications discussed in this study.     

A Longitudinal Study of Intellectual and Creative Development in Gifted Primary School Children

This research was carried out as part of the Moscow‐Munich Longitudinal Study of Giftedness, and is based on a multidimensional giftedness concept. A total of 73 gifted students in the first grade (7‐8 years old) were selected from 650 students with the help of a two stage procedure, using teachers' checklists and the Russian version of the KFT, a test of intellectual abilities, and a test of creativity. A control group of the same age consisted of 76 unselected pupils. The groups were tested using the same methods in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Intellectual abilities, creativity, motivation, and other personal characteristics were observed. Significant differences between gifted and nongifted students were found in intellectual domains; there were no sex differences in the cognitive sphere, but teachers considered the girls more gifted than the boys; a relationship between cognitive and personal factors was revealed but this was not very stable. The results demonstrated that gifted students need special support and education.     

Internalizing symptoms of gifted and non-gifted elementary-age students: A comparative validity study using the Internalizing Symptoms Scale for Children

As part of the validation research process for a new self-report social-emotional test for children, internalizing social-emotional symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, somatic complaints, positive and negative affectivity) of a group of elementary-age gifted students (n = 65) were contrasted with those of a carefully matched (by gender and age) comparison group of non-gifted students (n = 65). Subjects completed the Internalizing Symptoms Scale for Children (ISSC) (Merrell & Walters, 1996), a self-report measure of internalizing symptoms, affect, and cognition. The gifted students reported significantly fewer internalizing symptoms than did the comparison group. An analysis of critical items separating the two groups indicated that the gifted students differed most substantially from their non-gifted peers on ISSC items that relate to self-efficacy and perceived self-importance. Although these types of self-perceptions are considered to be a peripheral rather than a central component of specific internalizing disorders, it is hypothesized that their positive presence in children may act as a “buffering” factor, possibly insulating children from insults to their social-emotional functioning that may lead to the development of internalizing forms of psychopathology. The results of this investigation are discussed in terms of their relationship to conflicting previous research in this area, to future research needs in the study of social-emotional symptoms and development of gifted children, and in terms of the construct validity evidence for the ISSC. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.