Gifted Child Quarterly current issue

Examining the Relationship Between the Overexcitabilities and Self-Concepts of Gifted Adolescents via Multivariate Cluster Analysis

Rinn, A. N., Mendaglio, S., Moritz Rudasill, K., McQueen, K. S. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:52:54 PST

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between gifted adolescents’ forms of overexcitabilities and self-concepts. Clusters of adolescents were formed on the basis of their overexcitabilities, and these clusters of adolescents were then compared with regard to their self-concept scores. Gender differences were also examined. The sample consisted of 379 gifted adolescents, ranging in age from 11 to 16 years of age. Forms of overexcitabilities were measured using the Overexcitabilities Questionnaire—II, and various facets of self-concept were measured using the Self-Description Questionnaire—II. Using cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, and chi-square analysis, results suggested a distinct four-cluster solution, as well as differences between clusters in self-concept and gender.

Putting the Research to Use

Within this research, four distinct clusters of adolescents were found, namely a Low Imaginational group, a High Intellectual group, a Low Imaginational/High Psychomotor group, and a Low Psychomotor group. Differences in self-concept were found to center on the Low Psychomotor group, such that this group scored significantly lower than the three other groups with regard to various facets of self-concept. Females significantly outnumbered males in the Low Psychomotor group. Thus, gifted adolescent females with a low psychomotor overexcitability score may be more prone to a lowered self-concept and may need intervention, counseling, or special activities/accommodations to buffer the potential self-concept deficits they may face.

Developing and Fostering Passion in Academic and Nonacademic Domains

Fredricks, J. A., Alfeld, C., Eccles, J. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:52:54 PST

The purpose of this study was to explore how passion was manifested among gifted and talent youth selected from a larger longitudinal study of child and adolescent development. The gifted sample included 25 high school and college students who were selected because they were in a gifted program in elementary school. The talent sample included 41 high school students who were selected because they were highly involved in athletics and the arts in middle childhood. The authors found that passion was more characteristic of participation in nonacademic activities (i.e., sports and the arts). Talented youth were more likely to talk about wanting to do their activity all the time, experiencing flow, getting emotional release from participation, and internalizing the activity into their identity. The authors also found that school settings, and especially regular classrooms as compared with gifted and advanced classes, appeared to undermine rather that support passion. The authors discuss implications of their findings for creating school environments that can foster passion.

Putting the Research to Use

We found very little evidence of passion in our interviews with gifted high school and college youth. Instead, most of these youth talked about being bored and that little motivated them besides demonstrating their ability. Unfortunately, many of the youth talked negatively about aspects of both the academic and social environment. We offer suggestions for teachers and schools on how to increase passion in the classroom. Students are more likely to experience passion in environments where they feel supported by peers who are of similar ability and motivation levels, where teachers model enthusiasm and press for understanding, where there is adequate challenge, and where are opportunities to work on varied, meaningful, and cognitively complex tasks.

Mental Disorders Among Gifted and Nongifted Youth: A Selected Review of the Epidemiologic Literature

Martin, L. T., Burns, R. M., Schonlau, M. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:52:55 PST

Given the ongoing debate over whether giftedness is associated with mental health disorders, there is a great need to highlight and compare results from the most methodologically rigorous studies. Surprisingly, the vast majority of literature reviews and background sections of research articles include studies that do not directly compare gifted and nongifted youth. Furthermore, almost no attention has been paid to how differences in the definitions of giftedness or mental health outcomes of interest affect the interpretation and comparison of studies. The authors apply an epidemiologic perspective for thinking about these issues, highlight many of the challenges of studying this population, and present results from meta-analyses that include the most methodologically rigorous studies comparing rates of depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, suicide ideation, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between gifted and nongifted youth. They conclude with recommendations to strengthen research in this area.

Putting the research to use

Through this review we sought to provide concrete recommendations to strengthen future research on the mental health of gifted children. Most notably, future studies should assess large, population-based cohorts that include both gifted and nongifted individuals. Researchers should also move toward describing their study population according to their specific aptitudes, talents, skills or abilities, rather than using the general term ‘gifted’. Thinking more specifically about these relationships will not only help us to understand the association between giftedness and mental health, but will also increase the potential to effectively shape programs and policies for gifted youth, focusing resources on the most vulnerable.

Best Practices in Counseling the Gifted in Schools: What's Really Happening?

Wood, S. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:52:55 PST

School counselors play a vital role in meeting the needs of gifted students in their buildings. However, because there is a lack of structured, standardized, and empirically tested best practices for counseling gifted students, school counselors may not know how best to serve this unique population. The purpose of this study was to investigate gifted and talented adolescents’ experiences with the counseling techniques, strategies, and approaches most frequently cited in the gifted education literature in order to determine if any of these best practices were actually occurring. Few of these best practices were experienced by gifted and talented adolescents surveyed. School counselor preparation programs should consider providing training curriculum that addresses issues unique to the learning and development of gifted students.

Putting the research to use

School counselors play an integral role in supporting the talent development of gifted students. While there is an abundance of suggested best practices in counseling the gifted in the literature, there are few studies which ascertain if the suggested best practices are being provided by school counselors or the relationship between the gifted student and their counselor. This study was designed to enlighten both the fields of school counseling and gifted education as to what students are experiencing with their school counselors, what if any best practices are being delivered, and what programmatic options gifted students would like to see in their high schools. Findings indicate that few of the best practices are being experienced by high school students. Hence, while future research is needed to further explore this disconnect, the critical issue is the need for school counselors to have more exposure to these best practices in their preparation programs and beyond.

Developing the Impossible Figures Task to Assess Visual-Spatial Talents Among Chinese Students: A Rasch Measurement Model Analysis

Chan, D. W. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:52:55 PST

Data of item responses to the Impossible Figures Task (IFT) from 492 Chinese primary, secondary, and university students were analyzed using the dichotomous Rasch measurement model. Item difficulty estimates and person ability estimates located on the same logit scale revealed that the pooled sample of Chinese students, who were relatively highly able, might find it relatively easy to complete the IFT, and there might be relatively fewer number of items at the higher end than at the lower end of the item difficulty scale. The substantial correlation between person ability estimates and external criterion measures (mental rotation test scores and judged drawing scores) provided support for the validity of the IFT in identifying visual-spatial talents among students. Implications of the findings for the use and the future development or refinement of the IFT are discussed.

Putting the Research to Use

Assessing and identifying visual-spatial talents in students is important as a first step to support and enhance their optimal talent development. This study provides supporting evidence that the rapid recognition of impossible figures using the Impossible Figures Task (IFT) could be indicative of students’ global visual-spatial ability. Thus, the IFT could be used as a part of a more comprehensive assessment protocol for students. Specifically, based on the present Rasch scaling, teachers and education practitioners could administer the IFT with items ordered in ascending item difficulties such that students could be placed along a scale of increasing person abilities. Depending on the purpose of the assessment, a cutoff score could also be flexibly determined for talent identification to suit specific educational settings and cultural contexts. Alternatively, targeting for particular regions of person abilities or talent potentials, selected item sets could also be used, as in the use of some forms of adaptive testing.

Book Review: Richard E. Nisbett Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009. x + 304 pp. ISBN 978-0-393-06505-3 (hardcover)

Johnson, W. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:52:55 PST