35 Years of Giftedness: Longitudinal Study

The monster of gifted longitudinal studies was published this month in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science. The article examined predictive factors of success in those at the upper limits of the gifted range (exceptional giftedness) in a "Developing Our Brightest Minds" framework.

I have had a bit of difficulty tracking down the original article but have gathered some details from several reviews and abstracts. Basically they found four key factors:

• Cognitive Abilities
• Educational Opportunities
• Investigative Interests
• Old-fashioned Hard Work
  

My guess is the results are not going to be surprising to anyone. Certainly appears to support the use of gifted programs (educational opportunities) as well as the inclusion of some form of checklist that explores motivation (i.e. the Gifted Rating Scales [GRS]).

The most comprehensive review of the article can be found by CLICKING HERE.

I found it interesting (a bit funny and a bit bizarre) that no where in the article does it link its recommendation of the importance of providing appropriate educational opportunities for gifted children with positive outcomes and benefits for gifted children. Rather it seems to be all about the benefit of society:

“These findings come at a time when our nation is gathering its diverse resources to ensure that we are positioned to compete in a flat, technology-driven world ... Supporting and cultivating our most intellectually gifted students is critical to maintaining our economic competitiveness globally. This research will help educators identify those students who have the most potential to become exceptional professionals and leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”