Explorations in Giftedness

Robert J. Sternberg is Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology and Education at Tufts University as well as Honorary Professor of Psychology at the University of Heidelberg. Prior to coming to Tufts, he was IBM Professor of Psychology and Education and Professor of Management at Yale University. Sternberg is President of the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology and President-Elect of the Federation of Associations of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Sternberg's Ph.D. is from Stanford, and he has 11 honorary degrees. He is the author of about 1,200 publications and has held more than $20 million in grants. He is the recipient of approximately two dozen professional awards. Linda Jarvin is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Education at Tufts University and director of its Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT). She received her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and individual differences from the University of Paris V (France) and her postdoctoral training at Yale University. She has extensive experience with curriculum planning and development, designing and implementing professional development opportunities for K–12 teachers and college professors, and facilitating programmatic evaluation plans. Elena L. Grigorenko is Associate Professor of Child Studies, Psychology, and Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale University and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Columbia University and Moscow State University, Russia. She received her Ph.D. in general psychology from Moscow State University, Russia, in 1990, and her Ph.D. in developmental psychology and genetics from Yale University in 1996. Grigorenko has published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and books. She has received multiple professional awards for her work. Her research has been funded by the NIH, NSF, DOE, USAID, Cure Autism Now, Foundation for Child Development, American Psychological Foundation, and other federal and private sponsoring organizations.

• 1. What is giftedness?; 2. Theories of giftedness; 3. WICS as a model of giftedness; 4. Intelligence and giftedness; 5. Creativity and giftedness; 6. Wisdom and giftedness; 7. Giftedness as developing expertise; 8. Giftedness and culture; 9. Learning disabilities, giftedness, and gifted/LD; 10. Identifying the gifted; 11. Educating the gifted.

“Explorations in Giftedness is a masterful survey of the fundamental issues in gifted education – from questions of definition and measurement to the issues of providing appropriate teaching for the development of successful intelligence. The authors have tackled the difficult questions posed in the field by providing the contextual and historical perspectives offered by other theorists, presenting a well-integrated theory of giftedness, synthesizing the vast research base of their studies, and then extending their theory and the findings of the research studies to practical application. Researchers, scholars, and practitioners in gifted education will all find value in this well-written and comprehensive work.” – Carolyn M. Callahan, University of Virginia