Gifted and non-gifted high school students in China (N=495) were administered the Verbal, Math, School, and General self-concept scales of the Self-Description Questionnaire. Verbal and Math self-concepts were positively correlated with Academic (School) self-concept and with General self-concept. Talented students differentiated Verbal and Math…

Discussion of the development of mathematical talent in students identifies seven distinct levels of talent and suggests that Srinivasa Ramanujan, the Indian mathematician considered to be self-taught, actually received good schooling and studied a comprehensive advanced mathematical text. This suggests that good instruction is as necessary for…

Extends the literature on learning processes by identifying the motives and learning strategies of Master's- and Doctoral-level students. Finds that some graduate students seem more like undergraduate students in terms of their motives and learning strategies. Students' academic competency cannot be assumed simply as a result of their progression…

First examines issues in the identification of mathematically gifted children in the context of V. A. Krutetskii's categories of mathematical ability developed in his 1976 work, "The Psychology of Mathematical Abilities in Schoolchildren." A case study model is then offered which involves continuous and interactive identification and…

Scores of 220 students on assessment instruments used for admission to a business management department (multiple-choice test, case analysis, executive summary, business presentation) were analyzed. Multiple choice was not a reliable measure of knowledge. The other three methods reliably measured knowledge, skills, and abilities for management…

Discusses the theory of multiple intelligences and Montessori practice as interpreted by Torff, Dubovoy, Baker, Hilliard, Zener, and Sillick (PS 524 854-859). Claims that Gardner and Montessori both look beyond the notion of fixed IQ, and their joint perception of human potential tends toward the boundless, and the belief that each child can make…

Examined effect of maternal support on the development of counting and cardinality in young children at 32, 38, and 44 months of age. At the two earlier times, children were more successful at counting than determining cardinal relationships in both supported and unsupported contexts. Findings suggest that both social and cognitive biases contain…

Examined the effects of both general and task-specific writing experiences on college students' writing-skill development. As predicted, repeated practice was associated with superior writing skills and after controlling for repeated practice, writing within a specific test domain was associated with superior writing skills. Implications for…

This article describes the special residential "key" high schools for mathematically talented students in China. It explains the admissions process, the general curriculum, and the mathematics curriculum specifically. (Contains references.) (DB)

Proposes a procedure for empirical initialization of the trait (theta) estimator in adaptive testing that is based on the statistical relation between theta and background variables known prior to test administration. Illustrates the procedure for an adaptive version of a test from the Dutch General Aptitude Battery. (SLD)

Spearman's ''Law of Diminishing Returns'' with regard to ability is tested in a dataset from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth. The dataset consisted of a sample of 6980 children aged 12-16 from the 1997 cohort. The subjects were tested with a computer administrated adaptive format of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery…

This article presents a longitudinal study of the early literacy development of 47 children with speech difficulties from ages 4 to 7 years. Of these children, 19 with specific speech difficulties were compared with 19 children with speech and language difficulties and 19 normally developing controls. The risk of literacy difficulties was greater…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the journey of the scholarship student as he or she becomes a responsible scholar. We present three narratives, each one providing a different lens through which we view the journey of the scholarship student. We use transformative learning (as expounded by Mezirow) as a framework to discuss this transition,…

In this study we examined the role of anxiety on novices' performance on the psychomotor task of rifle marksmanship. The stages-of-skill-development model suggests that aptitude influences performance while learning a skill; however, the model does not address the role of affect. Assessments for state anxiety and state worry were administered to…

Presents an article on understanding and introducing music to sensory-sensitive children. Description of a child with Sensory Integrity Dysfunction; Problems experienced by sensory-sensitive students; Potential of sensory-sensitive children to excel in musical aptitude tests.