Five Reasons to Put the g Back Into Giftedness

Abstract

Human intelligence (also called general intelligence, g, or Spearman’s g) is a highly useful psychological construct. Yet, since the middle of the 20th century, gifted education researchers have been reluctant to discuss human intelligence. The purpose of this article is to persuade gifted education researchers and practitioners to reincorporate modern human intelligence theory (as expressed in Cattell–Horn–Carroll, or CHC, theory) and research into their work on gifted children. There are five reasons to make intelligence part of gifted education research: (a) intelligence is one of the best studied constructs in psychology; (b) educators know more about how to adjust educational plans in response to intelligence than many other traits; (c) grounding research in CHC theory strengthens the links between gifted education and psychology, making gifted education more relevant to “outsiders”; (d) intelligence is an excellent predictor of long-term general life outcomes; and (e) many issues in gifted education (such as curriculum planning and underidentification) are best understood if considered in relation to intelligence and related cognitive abilities. The article ends with some caveats that gifted education researchers should keep in mind when integrating human intelligence research and CHC theory into their work.