Differences in mathematical reasoning between typically achieving and gifted children

Mathematical giftedness refers to mastery in a specific mathematical domain at an earlier than expected age. The present study examined which cognitive processes accounted for differences in mathematical reasoning between gifted children (MRG) and their typically achieving peers (TA). Naming speed, phonological awareness, short-term memory, executive functioning, and working memory were examined in 51 children aged approximately 7 years. A series of stepwise regression models, using a contrast variable to capture differences in mathematical reasoning between MRG and TA children, were created to examine which cognitive domains accounted for differences in mathematical reasoning. Short-term memory (r²?=?.08) and visual-spatial working memory (r²?=?.39) emerged as the only cognitive predictors within a model that included gender, age, and fluid intelligence. This model captured all of the variance distinguishing mathematics reasoning between MRG and TA children, explaining an overall contribution of 70% of the variance in mathematical reasoning.     

An evaluation of a behavioural parenting intervention for parents of gifted children

Parents of gifted children identify a need for tailored parenting support, and gifted children have unique requirements and vulnerabilities. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a tailored behavioural parenting intervention, for enhancing the parenting skills of parents of gifted children and to assess the effect of these changes on the behavioural and emotional adjustment of their gifted child. A randomised controlled trial of tailored Group Triple P – Positive Parenting Program was conducted with 75 parents of children identified as gifted. Results indicated significant intervention effects for the number and frequency of parent reported child behaviour problems, as well as hyperactivity in the intervention group, relative to a waitlist control. Parents also reported significant improvements in their own parenting style, including less permissiveness, harshness, and verbosity when disciplining their child. No intervention effects were evident for teacher reports, except for a trend in relation to hyperactivity. This study demonstrated that a tailored behavioural parenting intervention is effective and acceptable for parents of gifted children, and thus has clinical implications for the delivery of parenting interventions for this population.     

Vocational interests of intellectually gifted and highly achieving young adults

Background. Vocational interests play a central role in the vocational decision‐making process and are decisive for the later job satisfaction and vocational success. Based on Ackerman's (1996) notion of trait complexes, specific interest profiles of gifted high‐school graduates can be expected. Aims. Vocational interests of gifted and highly achieving adolescents were compared to those of their less intelligent/achieving peers according to Holland's (1997) RIASEC model. Further, the impact of intelligence and achievement on interests were analysed while statistically controlling for potentially influencing variables. Changes in interests over time were investigated. Sample . N= 4,694 German students (age: M= 19.5, SD= .80; 54.6% females) participated in the study (TOSCA; Köller, Watermann, Trautwein, & Lüdtke, 2004 ). Method. Interests were assessed in participants’ final year at school and again 2 years later (N= 2,318). Results . Gifted participants reported stronger investigative and realistic interests, but lower social interests than less intelligent participants. Highly achieving participants reported higher investigative and (in wave 2) higher artistic interests. Considerable gender differences were found: gifted girls had a flat interest profile, while gifted boys had pronounced realistic and investigative and low social interests. Multilevel multiple regression analyses predicting interests by intelligence and school achievement revealed stable interest profiles. Beyond a strong gender effect, intelligence and school achievement each contributed substantially to the prediction of vocational interests. Conclusions . At the time around graduation from high school, gifted young adults show stable interest profiles, which strongly differ between gender and intelligence groups. These differences are relevant for programmes for the gifted and for vocational counselling.     

The comparative judgements of generally and specifically gifted children

Different groups of children were compared on sentence verification tasks. The children were either academically, musically or artistically gifted, and there were two forms of the task. In one, a picture was followed by a sentence, and in another, one sentence was followed by another. Subjects had to decide as quickly as possible whether or not the second proposition logically confirmed the first. In the picture-sentence condition results from all groups could be fitted to the constituent comparison model for sentence verification proposed by Carpenter and Just (1975). For the sentence-sentence condition, however, the observed results diverged from those predicted by the model. The results are explained in terms of different degrees of linguistic processing capacities of the subjects, and they demonstrate the importance which verbal-logical congruence has for children. Artistically able children had difficulties in processing subject/object incongruence in sentence pairs whereas musically able children had more problems in processing above/below incongruence.     

Perspectives on achieving via interpersonal competition between college men and college women

The beliefs of college students about (a) choices they would make when presented with opportunities to achieve by competing with persons of the other gender and (b) the consequences of such achievement choices were assessed. Drawn from a population of predominantly upper middle-class students, with a minority enrollment of 14.7%, 83 men and 84 women were presented with vignettes which depicted (a) either a challenge for a first violin in an orchestra or a Ping-Pong match at a party and (b) events related to the opportunity to become class valedictorian. Multivariate analytic techniques were employed, and overall the results indicated that men seemed less willing than women to compete against the other gender, and women seemed to view the consequences about such competition as more positive than men. In the violin and Ping-Pong vignettes, men indicated that they, more than women, would be criticized for playing to win and that, if a woman played to win, her male opponent would feel more ridiculed than respected. In the valedictorian vignette, women indicated that men who decided to compete would feel more pleasure than guilt, whereas women who decided to compete would feel more guilt than pleasure. The results are discussed in terms of conceptualizing achievement choices as more situational than static or gender linked.The authors wish to thank David A. Cole, University of Notre Dame, for statistical advice, Chau T. Wong, University of Notre Dame, for assistance in data analysis, Kathleen L. Davis, University of Tennessee, and Michael J. Patton, University of Missouri, for reading and commenting on early versions of this paper and undergraduates from the University of Notre Dame for working on this project.     

Biofeedback and gifted children: an initial investigation

37 intellectually gifted students were given a 15-min. training session in EMG frontalis biofeedback to determine its effectiveness for reduction of stress. While differences across sex in biofeedback training were not found, these highly able students significantly reduced their levels of tension.     

Sleep problems of parents of typically developing children and parents of children with autism

Few researchers have investigated the relation of children's sleep problems to their parents' sleep problems. Children with autism have been reported to evidence greater sleep problems than do typically developing children (C. D. Hoffman, D. P. Sweeney, J. E. Gilliam, & M. C. Lopez-Wagner, 2006; P. G. William, L. L. Sears, & A. Allard, 2004). In the present study, parents (N = 106) of children independently diagnosed with autism (4-16 years of age; M= 8.20 years, SD = 2.69 years) reported greater sleep problems for themselves than did parents (N = 168) of typically developing children (4-15 years of age; M = 8.62 years, SD = 3.28 years). Children's sleep problems were related to parents' sleep problems for both groups; in the autism group, children's level of symptomatology was not related to their parents' sleep. The authors suggest areas for further research on the sleep problems of children and their parents, the potential interaction of these problems with children's symptomatic behavior, and the relations of these factors to child, parent, and family functioning.     

Circumplex scales of interpersonal values: reliability, validity, and applicability to interpersonal problems and personality disorders

Three studies describe the development, psychometric properties, and potential utility of a new self-report measure, the Circumplex Scales of Interpersonal Values (CSIV). The CSIV was designed to complement other interpersonal circumplex measures that assess interpersonal behavior by efficiently assessing a comprehensive set of agentic and communal values. The eight 8-item scales of the CSIV were shown to have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability and a circumplex structure. The CSIV showed convergent and discriminant validity with measures of interpersonal traits (the Bem Sex Role Inventory; Bem, 1974), interpersonal problems (the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex; Horowitz, 2000), implicit interpersonal motives (the Thematic Apperception Test; see Atkinson, 1958), and interpersonal goals (the Interpersonal Goals Inventory; Dryer & Horowitz, 1997). Finally, the locations of the MCMI-III (Millon, 1994) personality disorder scales on the CSIV circumplex generally mirrored the locations of personality disorders on other interpersonal circumplex measures.     

Communication deviances: a comparison between parents of learning-disabled and normally achieving students

This study explored the relationship between parents' communication deviances and children's placement in a learning disability class. Participants were the parents of 30 learning-disabled students and 30 average students attending junior high school. Samples of communication were taken from parents' participation in an experimental task. Using a "blind" sorting procedure, raters were able to identify 87% of the learning-disabled students' parents by their high communication deviance scores and 77% of the average students' parents by their low communication deviance scores on the experimental communication task (p less than or equal to .0001). Implications for future research on the etiology and remediation of learning disabilities are discussed.     

The link between logic,mathematics and imagination: evidence from children with developmental dyscalculia and mathematically gifted children

This study examined performance on transitive inference problems in children with developmental dyscalculia (DD), typically developing controls matched on IQ, working memory and reading skills, and in children with outstanding mathematical abilities. Whereas mainstream approaches currently consider DD as a domain‐specific deficit, we hypothesized that the development of mathematical skills is closely related to the development of logical abilities, a domain‐general skill. In particular, we expected a close link between mathematical skills and the ability to reason independently of one's beliefs. Our results showed that this was indeed the case, with children with DD performing more poorly than controls, and high maths ability children showing outstanding skills in logical reasoning about belief‐laden problems. Nevertheless, all groups performed poorly on structurally equivalent problems with belief‐neutral content. This is in line with suggestions that abstract reasoning skills (i.e. the ability to reason about content without real‐life referents) develops later than the ability to reason about belief‐inconsistent fantasy content.A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90DWY3O4xx8