A 15-year phenomenological case study of an exceptional female from age 15 through 30 was focused on exploring the subjective experience of development during adolescence and young adulthood, with attention to how giftedness and context interacted. The main focus became her response to trauma, which was revealed early in the study. Data, including…

Explores the concept of spiritual sensitivity in children, noting that some gifted children show early evidence of an understanding of spiritual concepts. It examines the role of asynchrony in the development of spiritual concerns and offers examples of how gifted children experience these concerns in their everyday lives. (DB)

Explores giftedness from infancy to adolescence within a psychodynamic developmental framework. Gifted development is discussed in terms of drive, ego functions, object relations, and self-experience. Also discussed are the history of giftedness, gifted infants and preschoolers, gifted school-age children, and giftedness in male and female…

Identifies fundamental principles of psychology to explain how the self begins and develops over the life span. The influences that contribute to the creation of false and true selves in gifted children are discussed and strategies for promoting the true self of gifted children are offered. (Author/DB)

Gifted adults are recognized by society solely by their achievements, though the unusual developmental trajectory of the gifted creates an extraordinary experience of life at any age. The achievement orientation is now taking over gifted education and makes it difficult for the gifted to understand and honor the qualities of mind that make them…

This article describes one gifted child's social and emotional adjustment over time, as an interaction among many factors including his own personality, his family, and his school situation. The article demonstrates the child's difficulties in elementary school adjustment and describes the changes that occurred which enhanced his self-esteem and…

This essay takes the form of a dialog between the human "Self" and a questioner and explores the nature of individual self-consciousness, the Freudian model of the self, the development of the self in early childhood, the importance of parents in the self's development, and special problems of self-awareness in gifted students. (DB)

This article reviews data from a national survey of gifted children (n=329) to support the idea that the problems of gifted boys can be differentiated in terms of cultural conditioning, sexuality and success-orientation, and ego development. These issues are related to other findings from male studies. (Author/DB)

This study identified early conditions of successful adults, via a historical analysis of psychological traits and childhood environments of 38 notable 20th-century American women writers. The study rated multiple traits and conditions representing cognitive, affective, familial, and educational aspects. Results focus on the degree of persistence…