This study compared the academic and learning characteristics of students with (a) Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), (b) giftedness, and (c) giftedness with AD/HD, and examines specific a priori questions. The information reported by teachers, parents, and children was analyzed with a multiple-case design with constant comparative procedures within and across groups. The results...

The genetic endowment underlying giftedness may operate in a far more complex manner than often expressed in most theoretical accounts of the phenomenon. First, an endowment may be emergenic. That is, a gift may consist of multiple traits (multidimensional) that are inherited in a multiplicative (configurational), rather than an additive (simple) fashion. Second, the endowment may not appear al...

Five issues about giftedness are discussed. First, the origins of giftedness are explored. The view that giftedness is entirely a product of training is critiqued. There is indirect evidence for atypical brain organization and innate talent in gifted children: Many gifted children and savants have enhanced right-hemisphere development, language-related difficulties, and autoimmune disorders. Se...

IT-giftedness represents abilities related with widely differing uses of information technologies (IT). Children and adolescents often exhibit surprising abilities in the use of computers. At the same time they face educational and psychological problems. We hypothesize that typical adolescent problems with IT will be lessened if a dynamic approach to giftedness is applied. We analyze the intel...

In this paper we suggest that instruments of neuro-cognitive research enable the evaluation of giftedness in mathematics. We start with a literature review on the related topics presented so as to situate our suggestions within the existing research on giftedness and excellence in mathematics. This literature review allows us later to discuss our findings, which are based on neurocognitive data...

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 ...

Studies investigating the life satisfaction of intellectually gifted and non-gifted students are scarce and often suffer from methodological shortcomings. We examined the life satisfaction of gifted and non-gifted adolescents using a rather unselected sample of N = 655 German high-school students (n = 75 gifted), adequate comparison groups of non-gifted students, and a clear definition of gifte...

When the two terms are differentiated, the distinction may take many forms. Some apply the term 'gifted' to high cognitive abilities, and the term 'talented' to all other forms of excellence (e.g., arts, sports, technology). Others consider giftedness to represent a higher order of excellence than talent. Still others associate giftedness with some mature expression as opposed to a vision of ta...

Many definitions of giftedness exist (Kaufman & Sternberg, 2007; 2008). While these theories differ in important ways, such as their dimensionality, their emphasis on creativity, or their focus on developmental and environmental factors, they all emphasize the importance of conscious, deliberate, learning and the assessment of giftedness using tests that require explicit thought. This emphasis ...