Nancy M. Robinson

Self-Concept, Self-Esteem, and Peer Relations Among Gifted Children Who Feel "Different"

Two-hundred seventy-one elementary age high-IQ children and their parents completed an extensive battery of questions on social and emotional development. Eighty-eight children (37%) conceptualized themselves as differing from their peers. Although they described differences in a positive fashion, and although their self-esteem was above the mean reported for a large normative sample, it was lower than that of high-IQ children who did not think of themselves as being different. Furthermore, the reports about peer relations given by children who thought themselves different contained more signs suggesting difficulties than did those of children who did not. These results suggest that many cognitively gifted children need increased psychological support if they are to optimize their personal and social development.

Structure of abilities in math-precocious young children: Gender similarities and differences.

For this study of the organization of cognitive abilities and gender differences in young children advanced in mathematical reasoning, parents identified 778 preschoolers and kindergartners. After screening with 2 arithmetic subtests of standard intelligence tests, 310 high scorers (55% boys) were given 15 additional measures. Mean performance of these high scorers on all standardized measures was 1 to 2 standard deviations above the mean of the norming samples. Boys scored higher on 8 of 11 quantitative measures, 0 of 3 verbal measures, and 1 of 3 spatial measures, including quantitative and spatial working memory span. Three factors (quantitative, verbal, and spatial) were modeled using confirmatory factor analysis; patterns of relationships were similar for older and younger groups and for girls and boys. Spatial and quantitative factors were highly correlated; the verbal factor correlated weakly with the others but showed a stronger relationship with the spatial factor for boys than girls.

Psychological Adjustment in a College-Level Program of Marked Academic Acceleration.

The questionnaire responses of 24 markedly accelerated young students were compared with those of 24 regular-aged university students, 23 National Merit Scholars, and 27 students who had qualified for acceleration but instead elected to participate in high school. Measures included the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, California Psychological Inventory, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment. Accelerated students differed minimally from the college-aged groups, and not at all from high-ability age mates, on all of the measures, a finding contrary to the expectation that skipping high school is likely to be deleterious to ones adjustment. Both groups of normal-aged college students were more socially assertive. The accelerated students were less conforming and conventional than the others, but mean differences were small and not indicative of admustment difficulties. The study provides no basis for concern about the typical psychological and social adjustment of accelerated students.

It's not how the pond makes you feel, but rather how high you can jump.

development. In summary, Marsh and Hau (2003) should be commended for their painstaking effort to put together this very impressive multinational study. However, to further this line of research, the theoretical basis of the BFLPE needs to be broadened in light of the extant social comparison literature. Specifically, it needs to take into account the complexity and multifaceted nature of social comparison and self-appraisal processes; the active, self-regulatory role individuals play; and the ensuing positive as well as negative consequences. The authors are prudent in pointing out that this single study, with its methodological limitations, should be interpreted in a broader context of the research literature along this line of inquiry. It also appears that the practical significance of the model will remain unclear until the question of for whom and under what conditions the BFLPE will outweigh the benefits of attending a selective school is addressed. Keeping a big fish in a little pond is not the optimal solution, at least for many.

Neuromotor Development of Graduates of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Patterns Encountered in the First Two Years of Life

The neurodevelopmental course of 219 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit graduates followed prospectively over 2 years was determined on retrospective chart review. Mild neuromotor abnormalities during the first year were identified in 50%, three-quarters of which proved transient with normal development at 2 years of age. Moderate abnormalities were identified in 7%, half of which proved transient. Severe neuromotor abnormalities were identified in 20%, two-thirds of whom had cerebral palsy at 2 years. Persistent noncerebral palsy neuromotor abnormalities remained in one-third of those in the severe abnormality group, one-half of those in the moderate abnormality group, and one-quarter of those in the mild abnormality group. As birthweight decreased, the incidence of always normal development and transient neuromotor abnormalities decreased while the incidence of persistent neuromotor abnormalities increased. Small for gestational age infants demonstrated a slightly higher incidence of persistent abnormalities than their appropriate for gestational age counterparts. No significant sex differences were observed.

Predictive validity of the “movement assessment of infants”

Early identification of neuromotor deficits, cerebral palsy or other neurological handicaps, is a focus of concern for neurologists, pediatricians, and developmental therapists. Among infants at risk for developing these handicaps are those with low birthweight, idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome, and early central nervous system insults. The Movement Assessment of Infants (MAI), a neuromotor assessment tool, was developed for the purpose of evaluating high-risk infants participating in the University of Washingtons Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Followup Clinic. The predictive validity of the MAI was evaluated for 246 infants for whom assessments had been completed at four months and for whom at least one set of followup data was available at either one or two years of age. Correlations between the MAI total risk score and all five of the outcome measures at one and two years were highly significant. The clinical relevance of this study in the use of the MAI as an evaluation tool for identifying infants with neuromotor dysfunction is discussed.

Linguistic Precocity and the Development of Reading: The Role of Extralinguistic Factors.

The language and literacy skills of 21 children (aged 6;6), who were selected for linguistic precocity at age 1;8, are reported here. Verbal abilities remained high, and in contrast to the findings at 4;6 (reported in Crain-Thoreson & Dale, 1992), reading achievement is now at a superior level. Overall, the results are consistent with a two-phase model of reading development, in which the second phase is more closely related to language ability than the first. Phonological awareness, as indexed by a phoneme deletion task, appears to emerge as a consequence, rather than a cause, of early reading. There also appears to be a complex relationship among early interest in reading, instruction, and reading development. Differences in child interest in books and book reading may evoke variation in literacy-relevant experiences.

A Cross-Sectional Developmental Study of the Social Relations of Students Who Enter College Early:

Sixty-three students who had entered college at age 14 or younger supplied data on the number and ages of their friends, time spent together in various activities, number of times various sensitive topics were discussed, and degree of shared intimacy. Striking differences appeared during the first and second years between the proportions of the friendship investment with agemates and older university classmates. By junior year, and thereafter, however, early entrants appeared to have established relations with older students of breadth and depth at least equivalent to those already existing with agemates. Young college graduates were pronouncedly more invested in relationships with older individuals. These findings suggest that early entrants support each other during the first and second years at the university and use these relations as a base for developing fulfilling friendships with older students as upperclasspersons and graduates.

Family Factors Associated With High Academic Competence in Former Head Start Children at Third Grade

Most studies of gifted students have looked at already identified groups, often convenience samples. This study takes a more epidemiological approach. Of the 5,400 children in the National Head Start/Public School Early Childhood Transition Demonstration group Project tested at the end of third grade, the highest achieving 3% (N = 162) were selected by conducting a principal components analysis on their scores on the vocabulary and achievement measures. Compared with the remaining children, the high-achieving children were thriving both socially and academically, and, although as a group they were not enamoured of school, fewer were strongly disaffected. On the whole, the families of these children had somewhat more resources on which to call and somewhat fewer stresses with which to deal than the families of the remaining children, although their mean income was only 1.26 times the Poverty Index. Compared to caretakers of the remaining children, caretakers of high achievers ascribed to more positive parenting attitudes and were seen by teachers as more strongly encouraging their childrens progress. Of the 113 third-grade high achievers with test scores at grades 1, 2, and 3, 52 had met the 3% criterion in at least 2 grades, and 37 had done so in all 3. Years of high achievement correlated with family resources. These findings demonstrate that even families sorely stressed by life circumstances can support very positive intellectual and social competence in their children.

Validity of Stanford-Binet IV with Linguistically Precocious Toddlers.

Abstract Thirty toddlers selected for linguistic precocity were administered standardized measures of cognitive and language development at ages 20, 24, and 30 months, including the Bayley Mental Scale and selected tests from Stanford-Binet Fourth Edition (S-B IV) (20 months); S-B IV and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Revised (PPVT-R) (24 months); and S-B IV, Stanford-Binet Form L-M (S-B L-M), and PPVT-R (30 months). S-B IV yielded composite scores lower than those of the other cognitive measures, particularly at 24 months. Except for S-B IV at 24 months, there was substantial correspondence within domains, not only within a single age but across ages. Validity of the S-B IV at 24 months appears questionable, even with this linguistically advanced group. Practical roblems in use of this test with very young children were discussed.