Longitudinal Study on the Development of Giftedness

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of giftedness as the ability to create. The relevance of the topic is determined by the state program for the identification and support of gifted children. A longitudinal study of children aged 8—12 years (n = 42) using the “Creative Field” method allows us to trace the formation and development of their giftedness. This method allows for a differentiated diagnosis of the ability to develop activities on their own initiative (heuristic level of activity) or its absence (stimulus-productive level of activity). Intelligence was assessed by J. Raven’s test and the indicators of learning ability of the “Creative Field” method. In connection with the widespread understanding of giftedness, which reduces it to a high level of intelligence, a hypothesis was put forward about the range of IQ indices, which may be wider in the stimulus-productive group than in the group of heurists, but its upper bounds for these groups should be close. High values of intelligence in both groups are the basis for the conclusion that it is impossible to reduce giftedness only to a high level of intelligence. Giftedness is manifested in the integration of intelligence, the lower limit of which is determined by the ability to master the proposed activity, with the dominant cognitive motivation in the personality structure.