Giftedness often is seen primarily in terms of individual differences in abilities—with some individuals standing above others. However, what are perceived as differences in abilities are sometimes, rather, differences in stances—decisions made by individuals as to how to utilize their abilities. These stances, as expressed in the utilization (as opposed to the mere possession) of abilities, are analytical--to stand out and over; practical--to stand with and fit in; creative--to stand apart and against; wisdom--to stand beyond; and courage--to stand up tall when one is tempted to fall down. The theory here is that the executive processes, or metacomponents that gifted individuals use are largely the same in every case—what differs is the stance that individuals decide to take in the utilization of those abilities. Utilizations, in sum, often can be causes rather than merely effects of the development of profiles of abilities.
BronfenbrennerU. (1979b). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv26071r6
ChowkaseA. A.Parra MartinezF. A.GhahremaniM.BernsteinZ.FinoraG.SternbergR. J. (2024). Dual-process model of courage. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1376195. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1376195
8.
ClarkC. J.WinegardB. M.HoneycuttN.JussimL.MartinC.PhillipsJ.ClevelandD. A. (2023). Prosocial motives underlie scientific censorship by scientists. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(47), Article e2301642120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2301642120
9.
ClarkK. B.ClarkM. P. (1947). Racial identification and preference in Negro children. In NewcombT. M.HartleyE. L. (Eds.), Readings in social psychology (pp. 169–178). Henry Holt.
10.
CrossT. L. (2011). On the social and emotional lives of gifted children (4th ed.). Prufrock Press.
DienerE.OishiS.ParkJ. (2014). An incomplete list of eminent psychologists of the modern era. Archives of Scientific Psychology, 2(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1037/arc0000006
13.
DurocherL. (2009). Nice guys finish last. University of Chicago Press.
14.
DweckC. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
15.
DweckC. S. (2017). From needs to goals and representations: Foundations for a unified theory of motivation, personality, and development. Psychological Review, 124(6), 689–719. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000082
16.
DweckC. S.LeggettE. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95(2), 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.256
17.
EngleR. W. (2002). Working memory capacity as executive attention. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(1), 19–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00160
18.
EricssonA.PoolR. (2017). Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise. Eamon/Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
19.
FeldhusenJ. F. (1986). A conception of giftedness. In SternbergR. J.DavidsonJ. E. (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 112–127). Cambridge University Press.
20.
FeuersteinR.FeuersteinR. S.FalikL. H. (2010). Beyond smarter: Mediated learning and the brain's capacity for change. Teachers College Press.
21.
FeuersteinR.FeuersteinR. S.FalikL. H.RandY. (2006). Creating and enhancing cognitive modifiability: The Feuerstein instrumental enrichment program. ICELP Press.
22.
FeuersteinR.RandY.HoffmanM. B.MillerR. (1980). Instrumental enrichment: An intervention program for cognitive modifiability. University Park Press.
FordD. Y. (2011). Reversing underachievement among gifted Black students (2nd ed.). Prufrock Press.
25.
FordD. Y. (2013). Recruiting and retaining culturally different students in gifted education. Prufrock Press.
26.
FranklV. E. (1959). Man’s search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy. Beacon Press.
27.
FriedmanN. P.MiyakeA. (2017). Unity and diversity of executive functions: Individual differences as a window on cognitive structure. Cortex, 86, 186–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2016.04.023
GagnéF. (2005). From gifts to talents: The DMGT as a developmental model. In SternbergR. J.DavidsonJ. (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (2nd ed., pp. 98–119). Cambridge University Press.
30.
GardnerH. (2011). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences (exp. ed.). Basic Books.
31.
GentryM.WhitingG.GrayA. M. (2022). Systemic inequities in identification and representation of Black youth with gifts and talents: Access, equity, and missingness in urban and other school locales. Urban Education, 59(6), 1730–1773. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859221095000
32.
GottfredsonL. S. (1997). Mainstream science on intelligence: An editorial with 52 signatories, history, and bibliography. Intelligence, 24(1), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2896(97)90011-8
33.
GrossM. U. M. (2004). Exceptionally gifted children (2nd ed.). Routledge Falmer.
HollingworthL. S. (1926). Gifted children: Their nature and nurture. Macmillan.
37.
JaeggiS. M.BuschkuehlM.JonidesJ.PerrigW. J. (2008). Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(19), 6829–6833. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0801268105
38.
JensenA. R. (1998). The g factor: The science of mental ability. Praeger.
39.
KellermanB. (2004). Bad leadership: What it is, how it happens, why it matters. Harvard Business Publishing.
40.
KihlstromJ. F.CantorN. (2020). Social intelligence. In SternbergR. J. (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of intelligence (2nd ed., pp. 756–779). Cambridge University Press.
KrylovA. I.TanzmanJ. (2025). Censorship in the sciences: Interdisciplinary perspectives. Journal of Controversial Ideas, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.63466/jci05020019
LeeH.SewardK.GentryM. (2022). Equitable identification of underrepresented gifted students: The relationship between students’ academic achievement and a teacher-rating scale. Journal of Advanced Academics, 33(3), 400–432.
45.
Lipman-BlumenJ. (2006). The allure of toxic leaders: Why we follow destructive bosses and corrupt politicians—and how we can survive them. Oxford University Press.
46.
McCraeR. R.CostaP. T.Jr. (1999). A five-factor theory of personality. In PervinL. A.JohnO. P. (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 139–153). Guilford Press.
MiyakeA.FriedmanN. P.EmersonM. J.WitzkiA. H.HowerterA.WagerT. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49–100. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
MurrayH. A. (1938). Explorations in personality. Oxford University Press.
51.
NeubauerA. C.OpriessnigS. (2014). The development of talent and excellence: Do not dismiss psychometric intelligence, the potentially most powerful predictor. In SimontonD. K. (Ed.), The Wiley handbook of genius (pp. 15–37). Wiley.
52.
NorrisP. (2023). Cancel culture: Myth or reality?Oxford University Press.
53.
Olszewski-KubiliusP.ThomsonD. (2015). Talent development as a framework for gifted education. Gifted Child Today, 38(1), 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/1076217514556531
54.
ÖrtenbladA. R. (Ed.), (2021). Debating bad leadership: Reasons and remedies. Springer.
RenzulliJ. S. (1978). What makes giftedness? Reexamining a definition. Phi Delta Kappan, 60(3), 180–184.
58.
RenzulliJ. S. (2002). Expanding the conception of giftedness to include co-cognitive traits and to promote social capital. Phi Delta Kappan, 84(1), 33–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170208400109
59.
RenzulliJ. S. (2005). The Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness: A developmental model for promoting creative productivity. In SternbergR. J.DavidsonJ. (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (2nd ed., pp. 217–245): Cambridge University Press.
SackettP. R.ShewachO. R.DahlkeJ. A. (2020). The predictive value of general intelligence. In SternbergR. J. (Ed.), Human intelligence: An introduction (pp. 381–414). Cambridge University Press.
SilvermanL. K. (1993). Counseling the gifted and talented. Love Publishing.
65.
SternbergR. J. (2009). WICS as a model of giftedness. In RenzulliJ. S.GubbinsE. J.McMillenK. S.EckertR. D.LittleC. A. (Eds.), Systems & models for developing gifted programs for the gifted & talented (2nd ed., pp. 477–502): Creative Learning Press.
66.
SternbergR. J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence. Cambridge University Press.
67.
SternbergR. J. (1993). The concept of “giftedness”: A pentagonal implicit theory. The origins and development of high ability (pp. 5–21): CIBA Foundation.
68.
SternbergR. J. (Ed.), (1994). Encyclopedia of human intelligence. Macmillan.
69.
SternbergR. J. (1997a). Successful intelligence. Plume.
70.
SternbergR. J. (1997b). Thinking styles. Cambridge University Press.
71.
SternbergR. J. (2002). Raising the achievement of all students: Teaching for successful intelligence. Educational Psychology Review, 14(4), 383–393. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1020601027773
SternbergR. J. (2020). The augmented theory of successful intelligence. In SternbergR. J. (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of intelligence (2nd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 679–708). Cambridge University Press.
74.
SternbergR. J. (2021a). Adaptive intelligence: Surviving and thriving in a world of uncertainty. Cambridge University Press.
75.
SternbergR. J. (2021b). Identification for utilization, not merely possession, of gifts: What matters is not gifts but rather deployment of gifts. Gifted Education International,38(3), 354, 361. https://doi.org/10.1177/02614294211013345
SternbergR. J. (2022b). Personal talent curation in the lifetime realization of gifted potential: The role of adaptive intelligence. Gifted Education International, 38, (2), 161–173. https://doi.org/10.1177/02614294221086505
SternbergR. J. (2025a). The other half of intelligence: An obstacle-racecourse performance-based model of intelligence in action. Intelligence, 110, Article 101919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2025.101919
82.
SternbergR. J. (2025b). PTSI: A person x task x situation interaction theory of creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior, 59(2), Article e70010. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70010
83.
SternbergR. J. (2026). A trilogy theory of moral cowardice. Manuscript submitted for publication.
84.
SternbergR. J.KaufmanJ. C.GrigorenkoE. L. (2008). Applied intelligence. Cambridge University Press.
85.
SternbergR. J.KaufmanJ. C.PretzJ. E. (2002). The creativity conundrum: A propulsion model of kinds of creative contributions. Psychology Press.
86.
SternbergR. J.LubartT. I. (1995). Defying the crowd: Cultivating creativity in a culture of conformity. Free Press.
87.
SternbergR. J.Soleimani-DashtakiA.PowerS. A. (2024). The Wonderland Model of toxic creativity in leadership: When the “Never Again” impossible becomes not only possible but actual. Possibility Studies and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/2753869924127373
88.
SternbergR. J.TrompC.KaramiS. (2023). Intelligence, creativity, and wisdom are situated in the interaction among person x task x situation. In SternbergR. J.KaufmanJ. C.KaramiS. (Eds.), Intelligence, creativity, and wisdom: Exploring their connections and distinctions (pp. 367–386). Palgrave-Macmillan.
89.
SternbergR. J.ZhangL. F. (1995). What do we mean by “giftedness”? A pentagonal implicit theory. Gifted Child Quarterly, 39(2), 88–94. https://doi.org/10.1177/001698629503900205
90.
SubotnikR. F.Olszewski-KubiliusP.WorrellF. C. (2011). Rethinking giftedness and gifted education: A proposed direction forward based on psychological science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 12(1), 3–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100611418056
91.
TannenbaumA. J. (2003). Nature and nurture of giftedness. In ColangeloN.DavisG. A. (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education (3rd ed., pp. 45–59). Allyn & Bacon.
92.
TermanL. M. (1925). Genetic studies of genius. Mental and physical traits of a thousand gifted children (Vol. 1). Stanford University Press.
93.
ThurstoneL. L. (1938). Primary mental abilities. University of Chicago Press.
94.
VygotskyL. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
95.
WechslerD. (1958). The measurement and appraisal of adult intelligence (4th ed.). Williams & Wilkins.
96.
ZhangL. F.SternbergR. J. (2002). Thinking styles and teachers’ characteristics. International Journal of Psychology, 37(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207590143000171
97.
ZieglerA. (2005). The actiotope model of giftedness. In SternbergR. J.DavidsonJ. E. (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (2nd ed., pp. 411–437). Cambridge University Press.
