| Abstract: | In order to assess the structure of cognitive abilities in highly and moderately gifted young people, data from the Munich Longitudinal Study of Giftedness were analyzed by conventional factor analysis. In the total group as well as in the subsample of the moderately gifted, a three factor solution was obtained which was subsequently confirmed by a LISREL analysis of the same data. In the subsample of the highly gifted, a two factor solution was obtained by conventional factor analysis and confirmed by a LISREL analysis. Contrary to the opinion voiced in the statistical literature that in groups formed on the basis of some cutoff value the reduced variances and covariances will lead to factorial artifacts, we argue that the factors obtained can be interpreted meaningfully. We were also able to predict, on the basis of the two factor solution, the occurrence of specific types of highly gifted youths. |
