David Yun Dai

Achievement motivation and gifted students: A social cognitive perspective

The purpose of this article is to provide an illustrative review of recent research on achievement motivation and gifted students from a social cognitive perspective. The review discusses several constructs that have been a focus of motivation research: perceived competence and self-efficacy, attributions, goal orientations, and intrinsic motivation. For each construct, motivational research from the general motivation literature and from the field of gifted and talented studies are critiqued and compared. The review suggests that a general social cognitive perspective is a useful theoretical framework for research on motivational processes involved in the intellectual and personal development of gifted and talented students and that a process-oriented model is superior to a static model for research on both giftedness and achievement motivation. Implications of the review for future research on motivation and talent development are discussed.

State of Research on Giftedness and Gifted Education: A Survey of Empirical Studies Published during 1998-2010 (April).

This study surveyed 1,234 empirical studies on giftedness, gifted education, and creativity during 1998—2010 (April), using PsycINFO database and targeted journals as main sources, with respect to main topics these studies focused on, methods they used for investigation, and the conceptual spaces they traversed. Four main research topics emerged from the survey: creativity/creatively gifted, achievement/underachievement, identification, and talent development. Rich and broad conceptual spaces linking these four categories to their psychological underpinnings and educational implications have been explored by this body of research, though the conceptual spaces are still too loosely organized to be seen as paradigmatic. Several prominent trends are identified, including the emergent qualitative studies (accounting for a quarter of the total studies) and the dominance of descriptive (comparative and correlational) research. Although most psychosocial studies are conducted in the context of gifted education, there still seems to be a gap between theory and practice, between psychological understanding of gifted development and promoting such development through education. More systematic, sustainable programs of research and more coordination among researchers are warranted to move the field forward.

A Comparison of Gender Differences in Academic Self-Concept and Motivation between High-Ability and Average Chinese Adolescents.

This study examined gender differences in academic self-concept, self-esteem, and academic motivation among high-ability Chinese adolescents. Study 1 studied gender differences in a key school as compared to a regular school using a school-type-by-gender MANOVA design. Participants were 208 10th-grade students from the two schools. Consistent with the extent literature on American adolescents, boys at the regular school demonstrated higher math self-concept, and girls demonstrated higher verbal self-concept. In contrast, for the key school, girls and boys had comparable math self-concept and girls had higher general academic self-concept than boys, which is at variance with the findings on high-ability American and European adolescents. As a replication, Study 2 used a between-class design with a group of 148 10th-grade students from a regular school that grouped the top 50 students in one class. Gender differences in math and verbal self-concepts were comparable between the high-ability class and two regular classes and more consistent with what was found with regular school students than with the key school students in Study 1. The discrepancies of the findings of the two studies are discussed in light of the social-contextual nature of academic self-concept and designs of the two studies.

Snowflakes, Living Systems, and the Mystery of Giftedness.

The main argument of this article is that human living systems are open, dynamic, intentional systems and, therefore, are capable of building ever more complex behaviors through self-organization and self-direction. This principle underlying general human development is also applicable to the development of gifted and talented behaviors. These behaviors are dynamic because persons demonstrating such behaviors are forming dynamic, functional relations with a specific environment, with unique temporal trajectories capable of engendering emergent properties that feed into further development. This Contextual, Emergent, and Dynamic Model provides an alternative to traditional static, reductionistic, trait-based conceptions of giftedness. The article further elaborates on three dynamic facets of the making of gifted potential: selective affinity, maximal grip, and being at the edge of chaos. These facets allow for dealing with the genesis of talents, developing expertise over an extended period, and developing creative potential.

Three Paradigms of Gifted Education: In Search of Conceptual Clarity in Research and Practice

The purpose of the article is to articulate and compare three major approaches or paradigms of gifted education, so that researchers and practitioners can be more explicit about their assumptions, goals, and educational strategies in their research and practice. We first define the term paradigm, and then delineate three paradigms in the historical context. We then compare and contrast the three paradigms to elucidate their continuities and discontinuities. Finally, we discuss the importance of articulating the paradigmatic nature of approaches for educational and research purposes. The ultimate purpose of articulating the distinct approaches is to seek a common research agenda with clarity, rigor, and relevance.

Essential Tensions Surrounding the Concept of Giftedness

The concept of giftedness has a unique history and its meanings need to be deciphered in a proper cultural context. In this chapter, I first discuss “giftedness” as used in natural language as well as scientific discourse. I then provide an overview of the intellectual history of the concept in terms of construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction of “giftedness,” a change from what can be called essentialism to developmentalism. I argue that there are some essential tensions surrounding the concept of giftedness; they involve competing arguments and perspectives on the genesis and development of gifted behaviors and superior achievements. I then elaborate on these tensions and discuss possible ways of resolving and easing these tensions. I end the chapter by suggesting a dialogue between people of differing convictions that would allow us to delve deeper into the intricacies of the issues involved, and reach some degree of consensus as to the conceptual and empirical challenges we are facing.

Parents' reasons and motivations for supporting their child's music training

Musical talent development in a child is a prolonged process requiring adult assistance of both large investments of time and financial resources. To understand the motivations of parents who support their childrens music training, often initiating and sustaining it for a substantial period of time, a survey was sent to four music organizations on the east and west coasts. Parents whose children were attending precollege music programs (N=203) responded to 14 statements regarding reasons for supporting their childs music lessons. A major finding is that these parents reported more intrinsic than extrinsic reasons and expectations relating to the benefits of music training. Moreover, these parents believe that music training nurtures many desirable characteristics in their children including discipline, diligence, academic performance, and intelligence. The results are discussed in the context of cultural values and beliefs underlying the development of a specific talent.

Are Gifted Girls Motivationally Disadvantaged? Review, Reflection, and Redirection.

Over the past 2 decades, much research on gifted girls has revolved around the issue of whether they, compared to gifted boys, are motivationally disadvantaged in achievement settings. While research and anecdotal evidence seems to support this hypothesis, most recent educational statistics show the closing of the gender gap. In this article, the literature is reviewed and critiqued as to the existence of alleged gender differences, as well as task and social conditions, and putative internal motivational processes that potentially explain these differences. Then, several possible explanations for the apparently conflicting evidence are discussed, and a feminist critique of the gender-differences research and inherent biases and hidden assumptions is presented. In light of emergent evidence and new insights, several research strategies are suggested that can potentially address and redress some of the problems in research efforts to understand what are the motivational issues concerning gifted girls and how to help them achieve their potential in their educational and career development.

Reductionism versus emergentism: A framework for understanding conceptions of giftedness

In this article, I propose that various conceptions and theoretical models of giftedness can be understood along a continuum from the most reductionist to the most emergentist. Along with this continuum, I specify four levels of analysis based on the human functional hierarchy: the biological, operational (computational), intentional, and activity levels. I illustrate how reductionist and emergentist approaches provide contrasting views of intelligence and giftedness, with the former seeking basic elements and lower level explanations and the latter stressing complexity and higher level organization. I suggest that clearly articulating levels of analysis and principles for efforts of the reductionist or emergentist nature will enhance conceptual clarity and methodological rigor. Whether giftedness is understood in the reductionist or emergentist frameworks has many practical and policy implications for gifted education.

Influences of Social and Educational Environments on Creativity During Adolescence: Does SES Matter?

It is well established that there is an academic achievement gap between students from high and low socioeconomic family backgrounds. However, how being brought up and living in different socioeconomic backgrounds impacts adolescent development, particularly their creative capabilities and creativity-related personality traits, is not well understood. This study compared creative capabilities and traits of 8th grade students of 2 school districts: a suburban, upper-middle class community and an urban community with a large proportion of families under poverty, located in a northeastern state. The results provide compelling evidence for a creativity gap. The study also found a possible mediating role of academic achievement and intrinsic cognitive motivation, suggesting that the psychosocial processes and mechanisms leading to the creativity gap are tractable. Implications of the findings for optimal adolescent development and social interventions are discussed.