Receptive Language of Gifted and Learning Disabled‐Gifted Children

Three tests of receptive language were administered to thirty children enrolled in regular, gifted, and learning disabled‐gifted programs. Analyses of variance indicated that the Token Test for Children differentiated the learning disabled‐gifted children and the Verbal Absurdities Subtest of the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude differentiated the gifted children from the other two groups.     

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.     

Gifted underachievers

Research indicates that the cause for underachievement in gifted students is a combination of personal adjustment problems and limited programs in the school.     

Gifted Metaphors: Exploring the Metaphors of Teachers in Gifted Education and Their Impact on Teaching the Gifted

Metaphors are devices that people employ for both poetic purposes and rhetorical elaboration and belong to the realm of extraordinary language. Metaphors are used to connect abstract ideas and information to more concrete experiences, thus making these experiences more familiar and easier to understand. Moreover, metaphors are more than symbolic intellectual processes; they influence the conceptual understanding of our experiences and help define our everyday realities. For education, there is an important and relevant practical connection between the metaphors that teachers employ and their beliefs about teaching and classroom practices. This stems from the notion that metaphors guide one’s mental framework. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the metaphors influencing teachers in gifted education, this study specifically asked teachers to describe both their metaphors concerning gifted students as well as those influencing their teaching. In this study, nine different themes were identified. This research demonstrates a clear connection between reported metaphors and how gifted students receive their education from teachers. Participants’ answers demonstrate a strong connection between their metaphors and their classroom practices. However, strict adherence to one’s root metaphor increases the chance for dogmatism in the classroom and can lead to potentially incoherent classroom differentiation and a potential disconnect between classroom practices and the actual pedagogical needs of the gifted learner.     

The Gifted Child

Abstract

Culturally deprived Negro children and non-deprived children were asked to view twelve pairs of figures, one pair at a time. Ss indicated which of the figures in each pair was inverted. The results support other findings that a relatedness exists between focal point location and inversion perception with lower focal point positions tending to elicit responses indicating inversion. A chi-square test indicated culturally deprived Negro children on the preschool level were significantly (p>.01) different from non-culturally deprived children. Difference" between first- grade culturally deprived Negro children and non-culturally deprived children were not significant. Inversion perception responses of first-grade deprived Negro children were not significantly different from non-culturally deprived pre-primary children.