Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Highly Gifted Young People: Development from Childhood to Adulthood

  • Chapter
International Handbook on Giftedness

Abstract

Highly gifted children and adolescents are students at risk because they differ so significantly from their age-peers in many aspects of their cognitive and affective development. The cognitive strategies they employ are not readily understood by classmates or, often, by teachers. In the elementary school years, their strong intrinsic motivational orientation is at variance with the “reward” philosophy of many classrooms. Their conceptions and expectations of friendship differ strongly from those of age-peers and more closely resemble those of older students. Their moral reasoning tends to be more akin to that of students some years older. Longitudinal studies which have traced these young people’s development through adolescence and adulthood have identified strongly positive academic and social outcomes of various forms of academic acceleration, including, for exceptionally and profoundly gifted students, thoughtfully monitored programs of radical acceleration which allow graduation from high school three or more years earlier than usual.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 669.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 849.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 849.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Benbow, C. P., Lubinski, D., Shea, D. L., & Eftekhari-Sanjani, H. (2000). Sex differences in mathematical reasoning: Their status 20 years later. Psychological Science, 11, 474–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bigelow, B. J., & LaGaipa, J. J. (1975). Children’s written descriptions of friendship: A multidimensional analysis. Developmental Psychology, 11, 857–858.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colangelo, N., Assouline, S. G., & Gross, M. U. M. (2004). A nation deceived: How schools hold back America’s brightest students. Iowa City: University of Iowa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach, L. J. (1996). Acceleration among the Terman males: Correlates in midlife and after. In C. P. Benbow & D. Lubinski (Eds.) Intellectual talent (pp. 179–191). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dauber, S. L., & Benbow, C. P. (1990). Aspects of personality and peer relations of extremely talented adolescents. Gifted Child Quarterly, 34(1) 10–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeHaan, R. F., & Havighurst, R. J. (1961). Educating gifted children. (Revised edition). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diezmann, C. M., & Watters, J. J. (2001). The collaboration of mathematically gifted students on challenging tasks.Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 25, 7–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, R., Dunn. K., & Price, G. E. (1981). Learning styles: Research vs. opinion. Phi Delta Kappan, 62, 645–646.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldhusen, J. F. (1985). Excellence in educating the gifted. Denver: Love.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagné, F. (2003). Transforming gifts into talents: The DMGT as a developmental theory. In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds). Handbook of gifted education (3rd ed.), (pp. 60–74). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher, J. J. (1958). Peer acceptance of highly gifted children in the elementary school. Elementary School Journal, 58, 465–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher, J. J., & Crowder, Y. (1957). The adjustment of gifted children in the classroom. Exceptional children. 23, 306–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, D., Stocking, V. B., & Godfrey, J. J. (1999). What we’ve learned from talent search research. In N. Colangelo & S. G. Assouline (Eds.) Talent Development III: Proceedings from the 1995 Henry B. and Jocelyn Wallace National Research Symposium on Talent Development. Scottsdale, AZ: Gifted Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottfried, .W., Gottfried, A. E., Bathurst, K., & Guerin, D. W. (1994). Gifted IQ: early developmental aspects: The Fullerton longitudinal study. New York and London: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottfried, A. W., Gottfried, A. E., & Guerin, D. W. (2006). The Fullerton longitudinal study: A long-term investigation of intellectual and motivational giftedness. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 29(4), 430–450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. U. M. (1989). The pursuit of excellence or the search for intimacy? The forced-choice dilemma of gifted youth. Roeper Review, 11(4), 189–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. U. M. (1992). The early development of three profoundly gifted children of IQ 200. In P. N. Klein & A. J. Tannenbaum (Eds.) To be young and gifted (pp. 94–140). New Jersey: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. U. M. (1993). Exceptionally Gifted Children. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. U. M. (1997). How ability grouping turns big fish into little fish – or does it? Of optical illusions and optimal environments. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 6(2), 18–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. U. M. (1998). The “Me” Behind the mask: Intellectually gifted children and the search for identity. Roeper Review, 20(3), 167–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. U. M. (2000). From “play partner” to sure shelter“: A comparison of conceptions of friendship between children of average ability, moderately gifted and highly gifted children. Unpublished keynote address: Fifth Wallace International Research Symposium on Gifted Education and Talent Development, University of Iowa, May 19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. U. M. (2002). Gifted children and the gift of friendship. Understanding Our Gifted, 14(3), 27–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. U. M. (2004). Exceptionally gifted children (2nd ed.). London: RoutledgeFalmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, M. U. M. (2006). Exceptionally gifted children: Long-term outcomes of academic acceleration and non-acceleration. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 29(4), 404–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holahan, C. K., & Sears, R. R. (1995). The gifted group at later maturity. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollingworth, L. S. (1926) Gifted children: Their nature and nurture. New York: Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hollingworth, L. S. (1936). The development of personality in highly intelligent children. National Elementary Principal, 15, 272–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollingworth, L. S. (1942) Children above IQ 180: Their origin and development. New York: World Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janos, P. M. (1983). The psychological vulnerabilities of children of very superior intellectual ability. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. New York University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janos, P. M. and Robinson, N. M. (1985). ‘Psychosocial development in intellectually gifted children’, in F. D. Horowitz and M. O’Brian (Eds.) The gifted and talented: Developmental perspectives. pp. 149–195. Washington, DC: American Psychogical Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Janos, P.M., Marwood, K. A., & Robinson, N. N. (1985). Friendship patterns in highly intelligent children. Roeper Review, 8(1), 46–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanevsky, L. K. (1994). A comparative study of children’s learning in the zone of proximal development. European Journal of High Ability, 5(2), 163–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laycock, F. (1979). Gifted children. Glenview. Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubinski, D., Webb, R. M., Morelock, M. J., & Benbow, C. P. (2001). Top 1 in 10,000: a 10-year follow-up of the profoundly gifted. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 718–729.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulryan, C. M. (1992). Student passivity during cooperative small groups in mathematics. Journal of Educational Research, 85, 261–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muznieks, C. (2000). Psychosocial and academic outcomes for selective high school students undertaking a program of cohort acceleration. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Leary, K. (2004) The development of personal strengths and moral reasoning in gifted adolescents. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rest, J. R. (1979). Development in judging moral issues. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricca, J. (1984). Learning styles and preferred instructional strategies of gifted students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 28, 121–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ristow, R. S., & Edeburn, C. E. (1985). Learning preferences: A comparison of gifted and above-average middle grades students in small schools. Roeper Review, 8, 119–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, A. (1990). Point-counterpoint: Cooperation or exploitation? The argument against cooperative learning for talented students. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 14, 9–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, K. B. (1986). Do the gifted think and learn differently? A review of recent research and its implications for instruction. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 10(1), 17–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, K. B. (2006). The impact of leadership training on the self-efficacy and self-directedness of gifted adolescents. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 15(2), 16–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selig, K. (1959). Personality structure as revealed by the Rorschach technique of a group of children who test above 170 IQ on the 1937 edition of the Stanford-Binet. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, New York University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selman, R. L. (1981). The child as a friendship philosopher. In S. R. Asher & J. M. Gottman (Eds.) The development of children’s friendships (pp. 242–272). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, P. M. (1959). Isolation as a characteristic of highly gifted children. The Journal of Educational Sociology, January, 215–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, L. K. (1989). The highly gifted. In J. F. Feldhusen, J. VanTassel-Baska, & K. Seeley (Eds.), Excellence in educating the gifted (pp. 71–83). Denver: Love.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, L. K. (1993). Counseling the gifted and talented. Denver: Love.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. (1981). A componential theory of intellectual giftedness. Gifted Child Quarterly, 25, 86–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terman, L. M. (1925). Genetic studies of genius (Vol. 1). Mental and physical traits of a thousand gifted children. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terman, L. M. (1954). The discovery and encouragement of exceptional talent. American Psychologist, 9, 221–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terman, L. M., & Oden, M. H.(1947). Genetic studies of genius: Volume IV: The gifted child grows up. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terman, L. M., & Oden, M. H. (1959). Genetic studies of genius (Vol. 5), The gifted group at mid-life Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorndike, R. (1940). Performance of gifted children on tests of developmental age. Journal of Psychology, 9, 337–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Miraca U.M. Gross

Authors
  1. Miraca U.M. Gross
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miraca U.M. Gross .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Département des sciences administratives Pavillon Lucien-Brault, Université du Québec en Outaouais, 101, rue Saint-Jean-Bosco, Case postale 1250, succursale Hull, J8X 3X7, Gatineau, Québec, Canada

    Larisa V. Shavinina

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Gross, M.U. (2009). Highly Gifted Young People: Development from Childhood to Adulthood. In: Shavinina, L.V. (eds) International Handbook on Giftedness. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6162-2_15

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation