Journal for the Education of the Gifted

Artistic giftedness in 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds was investigated from a neo-Piagetian perspective, which articulates the increasingly complex structures for representing spatial relations in drawing during middle childhood. Composition, color use, and competence in human-figure drawing also were studied. Gifted young artists structured the spatial relations in their drawings, composed their drawings, and used color in a fashion similar to average children. However, they often used these variables in a flexible way, resulting in distinctive drawings. Their drawings were distinguished by graphic competence and the degree of elaboration in their human figures, skills that appear to be less constrained by developmental factors. Artistic giftedness may be demonstrated by the flexible and elaborate way in which gifted young artists use their structural capabilities and by their advanced mastery of specific artistic skills.

This study investigated the self-perceptions of low- and high-ability adolescents in a rural community of Jamaica, West Indies. The participants were 95 low-ability and 100 high-ability students who were rigidly tracked into two separate schools. The survey, How I See Myself and Feel About Myself, was specifically designed for this investigation because a review of instruments revealed that the content of previously published surveys was not compatible with the Jamaican culture. Student responses from the developed survey were compared to the subscales of Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (Harter, 1988) and to categories developed by the researchers. The effects of ability level and sex were also considered.

The nation is moving toward more authentic assessment procedures such as product portfolios. This study examined the degree to which samples collected in product portfolios from 216 kindergarten through second-grade students were able to predict their successful performance in a gifted program four years later. Successful performance was determined by scores on achievement tests and teacher classroom ratings. Hypotheses were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. This study found that students whose product portfolio scores are in the top quarter perform significantly better on math and reading achievement subtests, but their classroom performance is not rated significantly higher than students whose product portfolio scores are in the bottom quarter. No significant differences were found among racial or ethnic minority groups.

The relationships among ethnicity, gender, and vulnerability factors and locus of control were investigated for gifted and nongifted children. Eight hundred five ethnically diverse, 5th- through 7th-grade children were evaluated for intellectual ability, locus of control, and the presence of vulnerability factors. A 2×2×4 ANOVA revealed significant (p < .01) main effects for Giftedness, Ethnic Background, and Vulnerability Factors and a significant Ethnic × Vulnerability Interaction (p < .038). In addition, a 2(Gender) × 2(Giftedness) × 4(Ethnic Background) ANOVA yielded a significant (p < .024) main effect for Gender. Overall, higher internal locus of control was associated with female Caucasians not at risk. Results confirm previous findings in showing a more internal locus of control in gifted children and further indicate that for gifted and intellectually bright non-Caucasians vulnerability is associated with, and may serve to strengthen, a greater internal locus of control.

Differences in life-change events, life stress, depression, and suicide ideation were investigated in a mixed-ethnic sample of gifted (n = 34) and nongifted (n = 38) urban junior high school students. Results indicated that gifted students reported experiencing significantly fewer life-change events. The perceived stressfulness of the life-change events, levels of depression, and suicide ideation were similar among gifted and nongifted participants. Suicide ideation among the entire sample was significantly and positively correlated both with level of depression and with levels of past and recent stress. Recent stress and use of drugs or alcohol significantly predicted suicide ideation. Implications for counseling and for future research are discussed.