Article

Giftedness and eminence: Clarifying the relationship

Authors:
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

Abstract

Who are outstandingly creative individuals that come to mind in music, sport, psychology, physics, or architecture? Almost everyone can think of someone whom they would label eminent. Some of these eminent individuals may be from the past, whereas others are still with us. In the extant literature, there are robust strands of research on giftedness and talent, expertise, and eminence. However, researchers in one strand often do not reference those in the other strands. The talent development megamodel (TDMM) was developed from an integration of literature on giftedness, expertise, and eminence, arguing that expertise is a point far beyond novice on the talent development trajectory, and eminence is the label reserved for the top contributors in a domain. In this paper, we review the literature situating eminence as the endpoint of a talent development trajectory, which can begin with gifted identification in schools and we highlight theories of giftedness which support this contention. Finally, we provide examples from several performance and production domains highlighting the TDMM’s proposed trajectory from potential to achievement to expertise, and sometimes, to eminence.

No full-text available

Request Full-text Paper PDF

To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.

... The TDMM is broadly applicable across diverse domains, including academics, athletics, visual and performing arts, and professions. In the context of education, specifically the field of gifted education, the authors of the megamodel proposed that outstanding achievement or scholarly productivity and artistry ought to be the main goal of gifted education [9] because "aspiring to fulfill one's talents and abilities in the form of transcendent creative contributions will lead to high levels of personal satisfaction and self-actualization as well as produce yet unimaginable scientific, aesthetic, and practical benefits to society" [1] (p. 3). ...
... In the talent development framework, the immediate goal is to help children acquire both the cognitive and psychosocial skills needed to move to the next stage of talent development-for example, to move from potential to competency to expertise and to keep students on that path. The long-term goal is to enable more individuals to become creative producers in adulthood and to achieve at eminent levels [1,9]. However, given that the path from childhood to adulthood is long, filled with chance events, and affected by choices and opportunities, it is not expected that all or even many gifted children will produce transformational ideas or products. ...
Article
Full-text available
The foundation for talent development as a framework for gifted education can be found in a synthesis of the psychological literature on creativity, eminence, giftedness, and high performance. The talent development framework acknowledges the contributions of both general cognitive ability and domain-specific abilities to achievement, as well as the malleability of these ability constructs. Talent development is also consistent with research on the contributions of non-cognitive or psychosocial factors to school achievement, as well as studies on factors that influence the attainment of scholarly productivity and artistry within specific domains of non-academic talent. Although there are several theoretical frameworks and models of giftedness, talent development, ability, and intelligence, each with varied areas of emphasis and desired outcomes, the research base and practical applications for the talent development megamodel (TDMM) can serve as a guide to leaders and school administrators in making fiscal and programmatic decisions that maximize short- and long-term impacts for individuals and society. In this article, we discuss some of the practical implications of the model for assessment, curriculum and instruction, and psychosocial development within a school context.
... La literatura sobre la educación del alumnado con ACI ha venido concentrando gran parte de sus esfuerzos al comienzo del proceso de desarrollo del talento. De la misma manera, las iniciativas y programas para la intervención educativa de la ACI se centran principalmente en el potencial y en convertir el potencial en competencia y la conversión de la competencia en pericia se considera más allá del ámbito de la atención educativa del alumnado con ACI (Worrell et al., 2021). ...
Conference Paper
La LOMLOE incluye la alta capacidad intelectual entre las Necesidades Específicas de Apoyo Educativo (NEAEs) en los niveles educativos de enseñanzas obligatorias y su atención es reconocida por otros organismos internacionales en pos de cultivar su potencial (Dictamen del CESE aprobado por el Parlamento Europeo). En el contexto universitario, y bajo la agenda 2030 de las Naciones Unidas, se establece como prioridad garantizar una educación inclusiva, equitativa y de calidad y promover las oportunidades de aprendizaje para todo el alumnado (ODS 4). Sin embargo, son escasas e incipientes las iniciativas en el territorio nacional encaminadas a dar una respuesta a este alumnado dentro del sistema universitario. Pese a que la universidad articula programas y sistemas para la promoción del talento dentro de sus funciones y objetivos, el alumnado necesita guía y orientación para el conocimiento y acceso a estas oportunidades que son especialmente importantes para aquellos con altas capacidades que desean impulsar y enriquecer su trayectoria personal, académica y profesional. Este trabajo describe la tarea específica de articular una guía digital que permita al alumnado con altas capacidades conocer, acceder y hacer uso de las oportunidades de desarrollo del talento que ofrece la Universitat XXX.
... In 2011, two colleagues and I proposed the TDMM (Subotnik et al., 2011)-based on a synthesis of research on gifted education, expertise, and talent development-to explain outstanding contributions in adulthood across a range of domains. The TDMM has several principles (see Olszewski-Kubilius et al., 2023;Subotnik et al., 2021;Worrell et al., 2021), and I have listed five that are particularly pertinent to this article below: ...
Article
Full-text available
In this article, I provide an account of my journey from an impoverished neighborhood in the capital of Trinidad and Tobago to the presidency of the American Psychological Association (APA). Using the talent development megamodel as a framework, I recount events from my family, my K–12 schooling, my college years, and my time as an academic. I end with a few of the many lessons learned along the way. I hope that this story about my journey can inspire others who may think they are unlikely to aspire to the APA presidency to not allow their doubts to be a barrier to trying to fulfill their hopes and aspirations.
Article
Technology is an increasingly omnipresent and rapidly changing component of today’s world. As a result, there is an urgency to develop talent in the field of computer science (CS). The purpose of this article is to examine ways that educational systems can develop students’ talents to fill the need for skilled CS professionals. We provide an overview of the talent development megamodel as an exemplar of talent development frameworks and discuss ways to tailor it to fit CS talent trajectories. We describe three key components in a CS talent trajectory: early access to materials and programs; support from mentors; and the development of psychosocial skills. We introduce a proposed model, the computer science talent development model (CSTDM), for finding and developing talents in computer science in K–12 settings. CSTDM includes advanced STEM learning opportunities beginning in middle school, a focus on the development of psychosocial skills, and guidance for students regarding STEM career development.
Chapter
Full-text available
W rozdziale przedstawiono zjawisko galopującego popytu, jego przyczyny natury systemowej, tj. ekonomicznej i społecznej, oraz wynikające z irracjonalności zachowań konsumenckich. U podstaw takich zachowań mogą leżeć zjawiska katastroficzne, uruchamiające eksplozję popytu na określone dobra. Przykładowo została przedstawiona eksplozja popytu w branży odzieżowej i tekstylnej podczas pierwszej fali pandemii w Polsce (maj–czerwiec 2020 roku). W modelach biznesu podejmowanych w obliczu galopującego popytu istotne znaczenie ma demarketing jako ich strategiczny komponent ukierunkowany na działania o charakterze redukcjonistycznym. Opisano główne właściwości demarketingu oraz objęty nim zakres działań o charakterze strategicznym i operacyjnym. W rozdziale zawarto również analizę postaw i opinii klientów w warunkach galopującego popytu, opartą na autorskich badaniach sondażowych. Ukazuje ona zachowawczy charakter natury klienta jako czynnik stabilizowania zachowań obu stron gry rynkowej (podażowej i popytowej), podlegających dynamicznym procesom.
Chapter
The term giftedness is often used to describe exceptional ability compared to peers of the same age, environment, and experience; however, there is substantial variance in how people conceive and measure the construct of giftedness. Clarity about this construct can help those seeking to develop talent among people across different ages and domains. In this entry, we review the theoretical evolution of conceptions of giftedness, starting with researchers exploring inherent intellectual abilities in the late 19th century to those studying creativity and sociocultural forms of talent in the late 20th century. Then, we summarize primary prevailing frameworks of giftedness: intellectual ability, integrated talent, creativity, eminence, and social-emotional qualities. Included is a discussion of identification methods and service delivery options that aim to develop giftedness and talent.
Article
Full-text available
Insider knowledge is critical information about how to achieve success that is not available to the general public but is relatively well‐known to individuals within the domain and to those who have access to those individuals. The goal of this study was to examine the perceived role of insider knowledge in a sample of highly accomplished American professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We asked participants explicitly if insider knowledge had played a role in their talent development trajectory from K–12 education to their current creative work, with questions related to experiences at the undergraduate and graduate level and during their careers. The study was exploratory, so no formal hypotheses were put forward. Given the lack of research on the topic of insider knowledge as defined in this paper, we conducted semi‐structured interviews with a select group of individuals who had successful careers in STEM fields, both to see if insider knowledge was something that they considered important and to see if they felt that insider knowledge had played a role in their educational and career trajectories. Our hope is that the results of this paper will inform future in‐depth studies on the topic of insider knowledge.
Article
Our aspirations for gifted learners in talent development programs need to go beyond the development of expertise, creative productivity, and eminence. It is argued that wisdom development should be the ultimate goal of educating gifted learners. It is not merely what talents gifted learners develop, but how they use these talents, which will determine how meaningfully they lead their lives, and contribute to the lives of others in society. A theoretically grounded Leading Wisdom Development Framework (LWDF) is presented which articulates developmental levels of wisdom: emerging wisdom, developing wisdom, enhancing wisdom, and advancing wisdom. The framework outlines leadership actions which include deepening teaching quality and collective teacher capacity, strengthening programming, enabling student agency, collaborating with the wider community, and anchoring changes into the school culture. Effective leaders create conditions for integrated wisdom and talent development of gifted learners so that they can use their talents for the greater good of others.
Article
Full-text available
Understanding how individual and contextual factors collectively contribute to the developmental histories that facilitate the emergence of creative expertise in science is improved by considering the contribution of the broad structure of developed cognitive abilities to creativity, prospective research on the high achieving or gifted students who may choose careers in and end up as creative scientists later in life, as well as retrospective studies of established creative scientists themselves and what their educational histories reveal. We first review and elaborate on these connections as documented in research which explore the development of talent, including cognitive mechanisms that include math and spatial reasoning and science related educational opportunities. We propose a research thought experiment that utilizes the multi-trait, multi-method matrix, and bifactor modeling to help understand the true overlap between measurement structures of cognitive and creative aptitudes. Then we explore the social and cultural contexts that may facilitate and/or hinder creative solutions in science through the lens of how these ecosystems influence talent development for gifted students and also the production of elite scientists. Based on this review, some policies will be suggested that may enhance the development of scientific creativity and broader societal innovation and expand the pipeline to include and fully develop the talents of disadvantaged students and provide nurturing environments to improve the likelihood of the emergence of scientific creative expertise.
Article
Full-text available
Outstanding human performance continues to intrigue experts and the public; however, the focus is often on the individual performer or producer with scant attention given to the additive part played by circumstances and contexts. Using general theories of development (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1977, 1986, 2005;Sameroff, 2010) and talent development paradigms (e.g., Ziegler, 2005;Dai, 2010;Subotnik et al., 2011), we examined the interaction of environmental and individual factors on trajectories of high performance within and across varied domains. Public and scholarly awareness of the role played by environments places greater responsibility on education and other societal systems to support talents in varied domains, and to promote evidence of talents’ malleability and potential for development.
Article
Full-text available
We examined 482,418 students who took the ACT in the seventh grade and again in high school, taking an exploratory analytic approach to examine academic growth trends from 1996 to 2017. Predictors included sociodemographics, interests, high school (HS) characteristics, HS coursework and GPA, and extracurriculars, which explained 25% of the variance in academic growth. Overall, growth improved from 2005 to 2017, but growth for low-income and Hispanic students was stagnant. Catholic and private school students had the highest growth; homeschooled and high-poverty public school students had the lowest. High growth was associated with STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) elective HS courses and advanced AP, accelerated, and honors courses. Students with investigative and conventional interests had higher growth. Some extracurriculars had significant relationships with academic growth, though the effects were small.
Article
Full-text available
In 1992, the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) surveyed 714 first- and second-year graduate students (48.5% female) attending U.S. universities ranked in the top-15 by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field. This study investigated whether individual differences assessed early in their graduate school career were associated with becoming a STEM leader 25 years later (e.g., STEM full professors at research-intensive universities, STEM CEOs, and STEM leaders in government) versus not becoming a STEM leader. We also studied whether there were any important gender differences in relation to STEM leadership. For both men and women, small to medium effect size differences in interests, values, and personality distinguished STEM leaders from nonleaders. Lifestyle and work preferences also distinguished STEM leaders who were more exclusively career-focused and preferred to work-and did work-more hours than nonleaders. Also, there were small to large gender differences in abilities, interests, and lifestyle preferences. Men had more intense interests in STEM and were more career-focused. Women had more diverse educational and occupational interests, and they were more interested in activities outside of work. Early in graduate school, therefore, there are signs that predict who will become a STEM leader-even among elite STEM graduate students. Given the many ways in which STEM leadership can be achieved, the gender differences uncovered within this high-potential sample suggest that men and women are likely to assign different priorities to these opportunities.
Article
Full-text available
This investigation examined whether math/scientific and verbal/humanistic ability and preference constellations, developed on intellectually talented 13-year-olds to predict their educational outcomes at age 23, continue to maintain their longitudinal potency by distinguishing distinct forms of eminence 35 years later. Eminent individuals were defined as those who, by age 50, had accomplished something rare: creative and highly impactful careers (e.g., full professors at research-intensive universities, Fortune 500 executives, distinguished judges and lawyers, leaders in biomedicine, award-winning journalists and writers). Study 1 consisted of 677 intellectually precocious youths, assessed at age 13, whose leadership and creative accomplishments were assessed 35 years later. Study 2 constituted a constructive replication—an analysis of 605 top science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduate students, assessed on the same predictor constructs early in graduate school and assessed again 25 years later. In both samples, the same ability and preference parameter values, which defined math/scientific versus verbal/humanistic constellations, discriminated participants who ultimately achieved distinct forms of eminence from their peers pursuing other life endeavors.
Chapter
Full-text available
There is considerable diversity among South American countries in relation to regulations and procedures for identifying and developing giftedness in children and adolescents. The experiences of three South American countries (Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay) are described to illustrate the variety of approaches. Although these countries do not share the same cultural or linguistic backgrounds, there are commonalities among them regarding the development of gifted children and adolescents. Despite of federal and state regulations regarding education for high-ability and gifted children, educators still face many challenges when implementing these laws, including myths regarding giftedness in the general population. Resources provided to public education in these countries are scarce, however several programs are being offered to improve motivation and excellence among gifted children and adolescents. The role of professional associations and research on giftedness is considered of vital importance to increase public awareness of the social and educational needs of this special population.
Article
Full-text available
One hundred years of research (1916–2016) on intellectually precocious youth is reviewed, painting a portrait of an extraordinary source of human capital and the kinds of learning opportunities needed to facilitate exceptional accomplishments, life satisfaction, and positive growth. The focus is on those studies conducted on individuals within the top 1% in general or specific (mathematical, spatial, or verbal reasoning) abilities. Early insights into the giftedness phenomenon actually foretold what would be scientifically demonstrated 100 years later. Thus, evidence-based conceptualizations quickly moved from viewing intellectually precocious individuals as weak and emotionally liable to highly effective and resilient individuals. Like all groups, intellectually precocious students and adults have strengths and relative weaknesses; they also reveal vast differences in their passion for different pursuits and their drive to achieve. Because they do not possess multipotentiality, we must take a multidimensional view of their individuality. When done, it predicts well long-term educational, occupational, and creative outcomes.
Article
Full-text available
The educational, occupational, and creative accomplishments of the profoundly gifted participants (IQs ⩾ 160) in the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) are astounding, but are they representative of equally able 12-year-olds? Duke University’s Talent Identification Program (TIP) identified 259 young adolescents who were equally gifted. By age 40, their life accomplishments also were extraordinary: Thirty-seven percent had earned doctorates, 7.5% had achieved academic tenure (4.3% at research-intensive universities), and 9% held patents; many were high-level leaders in major organizations. As was the case for the SMPY sample before them, differential ability strengths predicted their contrasting and eventual developmental trajectories—even though essentially all participants possessed both mathematical and verbal reasoning abilities far superior to those of typical Ph.D. recipients. Individuals, even profoundly gifted ones, primarily do what they are best at. Differences in ability patterns, like differences in interests, guide development along different paths, but ability level, coupled with commitment, determines whether and the extent to which noteworthy accomplishments are reached if opportunity presents itself.
Article
Full-text available
The theoretical framework presented in this article explains expert performance as the end result of individuals' prolonged efforts to improve performance while negotiating motivational and external constraints. In most domains of expertise, individuals begin in their childhood a regimen of effortful activities (deliberate practice) designed to optimize improvement. Individual differences, even among elite performers, are closely related to assessed amounts of deliberate practice. Many characteristics once believed to reflect innate talent are actually the result of intense practice extended for a minimum of 10 years. Analysis of expert performance provides unique evidence on the potential and limits of extreme environmental adaptation and learning.
Article
Full-text available
What happens when a gifted child grows up? Despite a slew of provocative book titles regarding gifted adults in the mainstream media, and the inclusion of the notion of giftedness among adults in the definition of giftedness proposed by Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, and Worrell, there is a limited amount of research that has examined the gifted adult. In this systematic review of the literature, we categorized the available research literature into nine thematic areas: (a) whether or not gifted children become gifted adults; (b) family of origin; (c) effects of early educational experiences; (d) characteristics of gifted adults; (e) career; (f) family of procreation; (g) career and family interaction; (h) life goals, satisfaction, and well-being; and (i) counseling. Implications for gifted adults and the field of gifted education are discussed.
Article
Full-text available
Two cohorts of intellectually talented 13-year-olds were identified in the 1970s (1972-1974 and 1976-1978) as being in the top 1% of mathematical reasoning ability (1,037 males, 613 females). About four decades later, data on their careers, accomplishments, psychological well-being, families, and life preferences and priorities were collected. Their accomplishments far exceeded base-rate expectations: Across the two cohorts, 4.1% had earned tenure at a major research university, 2.3% were top executives at "name brand" or Fortune 500 companies, and 2.4% were attorneys at major firms or organizations; participants had published 85 books and 7,572 refereed articles, secured 681 patents, and amassed $358 million in grants. For both males and females, mathematical precocity early in life predicts later creative contributions and leadership in critical occupational roles. On average, males had incomes much greater than their spouses', whereas females had incomes slightly lower than their spouses'. Salient sex differences that paralleled the differential career outcomes of the male and female participants were found in lifestyle preferences and priorities and in time allocation.
Article
Full-text available
To investigate who becomes a member of the global elite, three groups were examined: the world's billionaires (N = 1426), most powerful people (N = 231) according to Forbes magazine, and World Economic Forum (Davos) attendees (N = 2624). All groups were highly educated and cognitively able: roughly 34% of billionaires, 31% of self-made billionaires, 71% of powerful males, 58% of powerful females, and 55% of Davos participants attended elite schools worldwide. Among billionaires and Davos attendees, many majored in business and STEM. In the U.S., top 1% ability individuals were highly overrepresented: 45 times (base rate expectations) among billionaires, 56 times among powerful females, 85 times among powerful males, and 64 times among Davos participants. Many powerful people and Davos attendees resided in the U.S. Education and ability level differences were found across countries and sectors in which billionaires and Davos attendees resided. Even within the top 0.0000001% of wealth, higher education and ability were associated with higher net worth, even within self-made and non-self-made billionaires, but not within China and Russia. Females were underrepresented among all groups, especially among self-made billionaires. These global elites were largely drawn from the academically gifted, with many likely in the top 1% of ability. The clustering of brains, wealth, and power may have important implications.
Article
Full-text available
The talent development approach to the conceptualization of giftedness has historical precedent in the field. Examples of large-scale and longitudinal research studies from previous decades guided by the talent development approach are provided as illustrations. The implications of focusing on domain-specific talents in academics, the arts and sport, their individual patterns of development, and the use of eminence as a goal for programs and services in gifted education are discussed. The importance of linking theoretical debates and research with the realities of policies, resource allocation, and advocacy is emphasized.
Article
Full-text available
Every empirical science must first determine its object of investigation. In most cases, this is predetermined by a cultural imprint. In the case of empirical giftedness research, the roots reach back to the beginning of the last century. Many scholars were fascinated by the phenomenon that some persons act much more efficiently in particular fields than others. It seemed to be completely out of the question that a normal person would be able to attain this same level of efficiency, even through extensive learning and with the best means of support. However, terms such as gifts, talents, or genius were suggested as causal explanations-regardless of the fact that they originated from mythological, theological, and metaphysical traditions (Ziegler & Heller, 2002). No science can be content with nonscientific concepts in the long run. Consequently, the theoretical development in the last century was marked by the longing to determine what these terms “really” meant and to supply them with an empirical substance. Obviously, this attempt only makes sense if there are entities within the human psyche that correspond to these terms. Unfortunately, this has only rarely, with a few notable exceptions (e.g., Margolin, 1994; Tannenbaum, 1983), been subjected to serious scrutiny. Fascinating terms such as genius or talent were bandied about, and a spectacular quest for the psychic entities with which these names could be christened was inaugurated. The first momentous attempt to replace talent with a psychological construct was made by Terman (1925).
Article
We present a model for talent development in music that resulted from applying a general framework for Talent development in Achievement Domains (i.e., the TAD framework; Preckel et al., 2020) to the domain of music. The talent development model in the musical domain (TAD music model) draws on the existing literature on musical talent development but also specifies a rigorous framework drawn from empirical research that can be used to identify predictors and indicators of musical talent. The TAD music model provides a multidimensional, dynamic view of talent development in music. Cognitive abilities, personality traits, and psychosocial skills that can potentially serve as predictors at different levels of talent development in music are suggested. The TAD music model can be used to further understandings about the nature of musical talent and its development, for the construction of diagnostic procedures, for empirical investigations of talent development in music, for the training of music teachers’ diagnostic skills, and for the identification and promotion of musically talented children.
Article
We analyzed data from a large-scale ( N = 39,213), longitudinal study of urban students to assess child factors (gender, ethnicity, English language learner status, school readiness skills, type of pre-K attended, early elementary school academic performance) prospectively associated with eventual gifted identification in elementary school. Overall, 14.2% of students were identified as gifted in K-5th grade, with the majority identified by second grade. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that White and Latino students were more likely to be identified as gifted than Black students, even controlling for poverty and early academic performance. English language learners, boys, and those who attended public school pre-K programs were more likely to be identified controlling for other factors. School readiness assessments were also useful for predicting giftedness.
Article
How can high potential in childhood be transformed into outstanding adult accomplishment? Research indicates that individuals who become outstanding performers and producers have more than just raw talent in the domain or opportunities to develop their talent—they have the will, drive, and focus to take advantage of the opportunities with which they are presented, and the capacity to persist through failures even as the bar for success gets higher. Despite the importance of these psychosocial facilitators, they are among the least well understood in the field of gifted and talented research. In this study, we reviewed existing literature in order to build comprehensive list of the psychosocial variables associated with talent development across domains (visual art, dance, sports, academics, music, acting, medicine, and software engineering). With the help of psychologists with expertise in these domains, we completed an initial categorization of these skills and asked the experts to indicate at which of the three stages in talent development—the transition of abilities into competencies, competencies into expertise, and expertise to creative productivity or eminence—each psychosocial skill was important. We found promising general patterns of commonality as well as variation by domain and stage of talent development, and discuss the implications of this study on future research into psychosocial skill development.
Book
"Talent development” is a phrase often used in reference to the education of gifted children. Recently, it has been presented by researchers to refer to a specific approach to the delivery of gifted education services. Much of this discussion has been at the conceptual level, and there is a need for translation of the model into concrete practices and examples that enable educators to better serve gifted children within their schools and districts. This book addresses that need. The research behind the talent development framework is briefly reviewed, followed by practical implications for identification and program design within domains of talent. To illustrate successful approaches, the authors draw on examples from academic domains, as well as performance fields such as sports and music, to help teachers, school administrators, school psychologists, social workers and counselors, graduate students, and parents develop gifted students' talents.
Article
Gifted students are individuals who are recognized for performance that is superior to that of their peers. Although giftedness is typically associated with schooling, gifted individuals exist across academic and nonacademic domains. In this review, we begin by acknowledging some of the larger debates in the field of gifted education and provide brief summaries of major conceptual frameworks applied to gifted education, dividing them into three categories: frameworks focused on ability, frameworks focused on talent development, and integrative frameworks. We then discuss common practices used to identify gifted students, giving specific attention to the identification of those in underrepresented groups, followed by brief overviews of the numbers of students who are classified as gifted, programming options for gifted students, and social and emotional issues associated with being gifted. We conclude with a discussion of several unresolved issues in the field. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology Volume 70 is January 4, 2019. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Article
Although the relationships between family income and student identification for gifted programming are well documented, less is known about how school and district wealth are related to student identification. To examine the effects of institutional and individual poverty on student identification, we conducted a series of three-level regression models. Students of poverty are generally less likely to be identified for gifted services, even after controlling for prior math and reading achievement. Furthermore, school poverty predicts the percentage of gifted students identified in a school. Within districts, even after controlling for reading and math scores, the poorer schools in a district have lower identification rates. Whereas students of poverty are generally less likely to be identified for gifted services, poor students in poor schools are even less likely to be identified as gifted.
Article
In this article we present research concerning important aspects of domain-specific giftedness. Specifically, we address the evidence regarding the relationship between specific abilities and achievement. Empirical evidence suggests that specific abilities have been used widely and validly for identification of exceptional talent in performance domains, and mathematical and spatial reasoning ability have demonstrated predictive validity for achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains. We note that domains of talent have unique trajectories and discuss four critical aspects of domain-specific giftedness. These include the developmental nature of giftedness (giftedness moves from potential to competency to expertise and possibly to eminence over time); the temporal nature of giftedness (that domains vary in their starting, peak, and ending points); the contextual aspect of giftedness (societal value of some domains over others, changing of domains and emergence of new domains, and the environmental influences in fostering domain-specific achievement); and the relative nature of giftedness (childhood giftedness is advancement relative to age peers, and adult giftedness is exceptional achievement relative to other domain experts). Finally, we present some implications of a domain perspective on giftedness for educational practice.
Article
Two second-order meta-analyses synthesized approximately 100 years of research on the effects of ability grouping and acceleration on K–12 students’ academic achievement. Outcomes of 13 ability grouping meta-analyses showed that students benefited from within-class grouping (0.19 ≤ g ≤ 0.30), cross-grade subject grouping (g = 0.26), and special grouping for the gifted (g = 0.37), but did not benefit from between-class grouping (0.04 ≤ g ≤0.06); the effects did not vary for high-, medium-, and low-ability students. Three acceleration meta-analyses showed that accelerated students significantly outperformed their nonaccelerated same-age peers (g = 0.70) but did not differ significantly from nonaccelerated older peers (g = 0.09). Three other meta-analyses that aggregated outcomes across specific forms of acceleration found that acceleration appeared to have a positive, moderate, and statistically significant impact on students’ academic achievement (g = 0.42).
Chapter
what is giftedness? Our conception of giftedness rests on three theoretical premises. The first is that abilities are forms of developing expertise (Sternberg, 1998). Second, beyond the level of expertise exists the realm of elite talent (Subotnik, 2000; 2004a), or what we call scholarly productivity or artistry (SP/A). Finally, in the course of transition from novice to expert and beyond, key personality, ability, and skill factors become increasingly or decreasingly important (Subotnik, Jarvin, Moga, & Sternberg, 2003). In accordance with these premises, we believe that abilities have interactive genetic and environmental components, yet are modifiable and capable of being flexibly deployed. We view abilities as necessary but not sufficient for generating expertise or SP/A. From our perspective, giftedness in its early stages is defined as the efficient yet comprehensive development of ability into competence in a domain. During the middle stage, giftedness becomes associated with precocious achievement of expertise. Finally, we view giftedness in adulthood as SP/A, taking the form of unique contributions to a field or domain. In the course of offering details on the transformation of abilities into competencies, expertise, and, in some cases, SP/A, we focus on examples from the domain of music. Substantial evidence exists that abilities can be enhanced, at least to some degree (see Feuerstein, 1980; Herrnstein, Nickerson, deSanchez, & Swets, 1986; Nickerson, 1986; Nickerson, Perkins, & Smith, 1985; Perkins, 1995; Perkins & Grotzer, 1997; Ramey, 1994; Sternberg, 1988, 1994, 1997; Sternberg&Spear-Swerling, 1996). The best evidence favors a complex mix of genetic and environmental origins of abilities, interacting in ways that are not as yet fully known (see Sternberg&Grigorenko, 1997). The question we explore here is how abilities are developed to elicit elite performance.
Book
What does it really mean to be gifted and how can schools or other institutions identify, teach, and evaluate the performance of gifted children? The second edition of Conceptions of Giftedness describes 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 to enable the major researchers in the field to compare and contrast the strengths of their theoretical models.
Article
This statement outlines conclusions re-garded as mainstream among researchers on intelligence, in particular, on the nature, ori-gins, and practical consequences of individu-al and group differences in intelligence. Its aim is to promote more reasoned discussion of the vexing phenomenon that the research has revealed in recent decades. The follow-ing conclusions are fully described in the major textbooks, professional journals and encyclopedias in intelligence.
Article
There are two paths that gifted children can follow that can be facilitated by educators within the context of the public school system, and that subsequently will lead to productive lives. These paths reflect educational responses to two unique, although partially overlapping, domains of giftedness. The proposed overall construct of giftedness is not a totally new construct, but rather is a reflection of an attempt to resolve an artificial dichotomy that seems to have evolved in the gifted literature. The conception of giftedness proposed is one based on student learning and performance needs, hence the label child-responsive model. The model accepts, while adapting, some basic premises of two existing paradigms of giftedness that have competed for attention in the schools. It is predicated on the belief that the school environment should recognize the behaviors and characteristics of the exceptional learner from these two realms and respond to the concomitant learner needs in each group by creating learning environments that will maximize the opportunities for exceptional learners to extend their achieved and potential expertise in areas of high performance. The response involves creating the most challenging learning tasks-requiring students to utilize the knowledge, skill, and understanding they bring to the situation at the highest level possible, but also challenging them to extend those achievements beyond their current stage of accomplishment. In other words, learning experiences should be based on Vygotsky’s (1978) notion of zone of proximal development across the domains of performance excellence that the gifted learner brings to the learning situation.
Article
Current conceptions of giftedness and intelligence are reviewed and a conception of giftedness as an interaction of intelligence, special abilities or talents, self concept and resultant motivation to achieve is presented. An important distinction is made between those traits which can be identified in young children and those behaviors which should serve as the goals or outcomes of a program for gifted students. The authors conclude that motivation, self concept, and creativity should not serve as components of an identification scheme, but instead should be major goals of gifted programs.
Article
For nearly a century, scholars have sought to understand, measure, and explain giftedness. Succeeding theories and empirical investigations have often built on earlier work, complementing or sometimes clashing over conceptions of talent or contesting the mechanisms of talent development. Some have even suggested that giftedness itself is a misnomer, mistaken for the results of endless practice or social advantage. In surveying the landscape of current knowledge about giftedness and gifted education, this monograph will advance a set of interrelated arguments: The abilities of individuals do matter, particularly their abilities in specific talent domains; different talent domains have different developmental trajectories that vary as to when they start, peak, and end; and opportunities provided by society are crucial at every point in the talent-development process. We argue that society must strive to promote these opportunities but that individuals with talent also have some responsibility for their own growth and development. Furthermore, the research knowledge base indicates that psychosocial variables are determining influences in the successful development of talent. Finally, outstanding achievement or eminence ought to be the chief goal of gifted education. We assert that aspiring to fulfill one’s talents and abilities in the form of transcendent creative contributions will lead to high levels of personal satisfaction and self-actualization as well as produce yet unimaginable scientific, aesthetic, and practical benefits to society. To frame our discussion, we propose a definition of giftedness that we intend to be comprehensive. Giftedness is the manifestation of performance that is clearly at the upper end of the distribution in a talent domain even relative to other high-functioning individuals in that domain. Further, giftedness can be viewed as developmental in that in the beginning stages, potential is the key variable; in later stages, achievement is the measure of giftedness; and in fully developed talents, eminence is the basis on which this label is granted. Psychosocial variables play an essential role in the manifestation of giftedness at every developmental stage. Both cognitive and psychosocial variables are malleable and need to be deliberately cultivated. Our goal here is to provide a definition that is useful across all domains of endeavor and acknowledges several perspectives about giftedness on which there is a fairly broad scientific consensus. Giftedness (a) reflects the values of society; (b) is typically manifested in actual outcomes, especially in adulthood; (c) is specific to domains of endeavor; (d) is the result of the coalescing of biological, pedagogical, psychological, and psychosocial factors; and (e) is relative not just to the ordinary (e.g., a child with exceptional art ability compared to peers) but to the extraordinary (e.g., an artist who revolutionizes a field of art). In this monograph, our goal is to review and summarize what we have learned about giftedness from the literature in psychological science and suggest some directions for the field of gifted education. We begin with a discussion of how giftedness is defined (see above). In the second section, we review the reasons why giftedness is often excluded from major conversations on educational policy, and then offer rebuttals to these arguments. In spite of concerns for the future of innovation in the United States, the education research and policy communities have been generally resistant to addressing academic giftedness in research, policy, and practice. The resistance is derived from the assumption that academically gifted children will be successful no matter what educational environment they are placed in, and because their families are believed to be more highly educated and hold above-average access to human capital wealth. These arguments run counter to psychological science indicating the need for all students to be challenged in their schoolwork and that effort and appropriate educational programing, training and support are required to develop a student’s talents and abilities. In fact, high-ability students in the United States are not faring well on international comparisons. The scores of advanced students in the United States with at least one college-educated parent were lower than the scores of students in 16 other developed countries regardless of parental education level. In the third section, we summarize areas of consensus and controversy in gifted education, using the extant psychological literature to evaluate these positions. Psychological science points to several variables associated with outstanding achievement. The most important of these include general and domain-specific ability, creativity, motivation and mindset, task commitment, passion, interest, opportunity, and chance. Consensus has not been achieved in the field however in four main areas: What are the most important factors that contribute to the acuities or propensities that can serve as signs of potential talent? What are potential barriers to acquiring the “gifted” label? What are the expected outcomes of gifted education? And how should gifted students be educated? In the fourth section, we provide an overview of the major models of giftedness from the giftedness literature. Four models have served as the foundation for programs used in schools in the United States and in other countries. Most of the research associated with these models focuses on the precollegiate and early university years. Other talent-development models described are designed to explain the evolution of talent over time, going beyond the school years into adult eminence (but these have been applied only by out-of-school programs as the basis for educating gifted students). In the fifth section we present methodological challenges to conducting research on gifted populations, including definitions of giftedness and talent that are not standardized, test ceilings that are too low to measure progress or growth, comparison groups that are hard to find for extraordinary individuals, and insufficient training in the use of statistical methods that can address some of these challenges. In the sixth section, we propose a comprehensive model of trajectories of gifted performance from novice to eminence using examples from several domains. This model takes into account when a domain can first be expressed meaningfully—whether in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood. It also takes into account what we currently know about the acuities or propensities that can serve as signs of potential talent. Budding talents are usually recognized, developed, and supported by parents, teachers, and mentors. Those individuals may or may not offer guidance for the talented individual in the psychological strengths and social skills needed to move from one stage of development to the next. We developed the model with the following principles in mind: Abilities matter, domains of talent have varying developmental trajectories, opportunities need to be provided to young people and taken by them as well, psychosocial variables are determining factors in the successful development of talent, and eminence is the aspired outcome of gifted education. In the seventh section, we outline a research agenda for the field. This agenda, presented in the form of research questions, focuses on two central variables associated with the development of talent—opportunity and motivation—and is organized according to the degree to which access to talent development is high or low and whether an individual is highly motivated or not. Finally, in the eighth section, we summarize implications for the field in undertaking our proposed perspectives. These include a shift toward identification of talent within domains, the creation of identification processes based on the developmental trajectories of talent domains, the provision of opportunities along with monitoring for response and commitment on the part of participants, provision of coaching in psychosocial skills, and organization of programs around the tools needed to reach the highest possible levels of creative performance or productivity.
Article
Lack of theoretical coherence in the field of gifted education has given rise to multiple attempts at a grand unification, including most recently the work of Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, and Worrell (2011). The authors argue that the incoherence is an inevitable consequence of the fundamental incompatibility of theoretical and definitional features desired by psychologists and educators. Our field could best progress by splitting into the two related but distinct disciplines of high-ability psychology and advanced academics. Furthermore, the prospective adoption of Subotnik et al.’s eminence framework as an organizational principle for either advanced academics or high-ability psychology is criticized.
Article
We were thrilled to see an article focusing on giftedness, written by such thoughtful and well-respected researchers as Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, and Worrell (2011). The expansive scope of their synthesis is so impressive that it could serve as a crash course introduction to gifted education. In our commentary, we focus specifically on the perspective of education service delivery. From this perspective, we review their guiding principles, chief goal, and provide some follow-up questions for further clarification as well as an implementation option also based on talent development.
Article
Systemic goals for gifted programs can take many forms. The authors place most program goals into a dichotomy — those that address the present academic needs of gifted students in schools and those designed to prepare future eminent path breakers and innovators. To clarify our arguments, we first define eminence and then offer examples from national mission statements that target gifted programs either to academic needs of advanced students or future needs of society. Although we support both goals, we promote the latter, even in light of the complications that we delineate. To demonstrate a model of eminence development that might be implemented more widely, we present a prototype program generated at the American Psychological Association. We close our argument with recommendations and implications for research and policy.