A survey assessing components of attitude thought to be relevant to success in a program for mathematically talented youth was administered to 61 participants on 4 occasions over a 2-year period. Male participants showed a significantly higher level of motivation, confidence, and interest in mathematics than did females. Attitude declines over…

Comparison of three learning strategies (elaborative interrogation, spontaneous strategy, or repetition control) with 53 high achievers in grades 5 and 6 found that both elaborative interrogation and spontaneous strategy conditions were equally effective and both were superior to the repetition condition. (DB)

Reviewed are current educational practices for the gifted and talented in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, West Germany, France, Israel, Japan, South Africa, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union. General practices are discussed, rather than those concerned specifically with mathematics. (MNS)

This study compared 10 gifted and 10 average children in each elementary grade for higher level cognitive writing processes and lower level transcription processes. Results indicated that gifted and average children differed in the higher level cognitive processes but not in the lower level writing processes. Results have implications for…

Gifted/talented high school students (n=113) completed the Mathematical Self-Efficacy Scale. Analysis indicated that males had stronger self-efficacy expectations than females on more than one-fourth of the items, whereas females reported stronger self-efficacy expectations on only a few items that involved stereotypical female activities.…

In recent research, female adolescents have been found to prefer history, language, and writing courses, while male adolescents have been found to prefer mathematics and science courses. These gender differences in course selection occurred despite the fact that female and male adolescents performed equally well in these courses. This study…

A meta-analysis of 26 studies shows that accelerated gifted students outperform students of the same age and ability who are not accelerated and achieve as well as equally gifted older students in the higher grades. Correlational studies suggest that accelerates are equally successful later in life. (MLF)

Comparison of field-dependent/independent cognitive style of 150 second and third graders (either selected for gifted services, nominated but not selected, or not nominated) found that a field-independent (analytical) cognitive style enhanced the prospect of being selected for gifted services. (Author/DB)

Examination of social status, peer liking and knowing, and reciprocal friendships of 202 students (learning disabled, low achieving, average achieving, and high achieving) in grades 3-10 found that only low achieving students were less well liked and less well known by classmates. All groups showed a high relationship between knowing and liking.…

The psychometric properties of the "Almost Perfect Scale-Revised," a test of adaptive and maladaptive aspects of perfectionist qualities, were examined with 342 academically talented middle school students. Findings indicated reliability estimates in the moderate to high range but goodness-of-fit indices were just below the criteria for…

Students were asked to make up a mathematics problem that would be difficult for a friend to solve: a subsample of 11- to 13-year-olds was interviewed as they solved the problems. Made-up problems were found to be a useful tool for studying mathematically talented children. (MNS)

A phenomenological interview process in two stages was employed to elicit the life stories of six academically gifted college students. Participants' stories were edited with themes identified and interpreted by the researcher. A sample life history of a high achieving female college senior is provided. Commentary by the researcher focuses on the…

This study investigated students' mathematics achievement, estimation ability, use of estimation strategies, and academic self-perception with 135 students (n=135) in grades 4, 6, or 8, either with learning disabilities (LD), average achievers, or intellectually gifted. Students with LD differed significantly from average achievers in their use of…

This study evaluated the use of guided imagery practice to enhance creative writing with 43 academically gifted students (stratified as either high or low creativity) in grades 3 and 4. Groups receiving the guided imagery practice (regardless of original creativity level) generated more original writing, which contained more sensory descriptions…

Comparison of three groups of gifted students (total n=275) in grades two through eight whose birthdays were either early, intermediate, or late in their school entry year found higher achievement for the older students but concluded that age position in relation to classmates does not appear to be a critical variable in the school performance of…