Intellectual Talent: Psychometric and Social Issues / Edited by Camilla Persson Benbow and David Lubinski
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Intellectual Talent Psychometric and Social Issues Intellectual Talent Edited by Camilla Persson Benbow and David Lubinski THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS Baltimore and London © 1996 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 1996 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 5 4 3 2 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4319 The Johns Hopkins Press Ltd., London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data will be found at the end of this book. A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-8018-5301-X ISBN 0-8018-5302-8 (pbk.) Contents List of Contributors Preface I. Political Correctness and the Zeitgeist: Genetic Antecedents to Human Behavior 1. Genes, Drives, Environment, and Experience: EPD Theory Revised THOMAS J. BOUCHARD, JR., DAVID T. LYKKEN, AUKE TELLEGEN, AND MATTHEW MCGUE 2. The IQ Controversy and the Gifted ABRAHAM J. TANNENBAUM II. The Underuse of Knowledge 3. Educational Research and Educational Policy: The Strange Case of Acceleration JAMES J. GALLAGHER 4. Acceleration over the Years A. HARRY PASSOW 5. The Role of the Educational Researcher in Educational Improvement: A Retrospective Analysis HERBERT J. KLAUSMEIER 6. Assessing Spatial Visualization: An Underappreciated Ability for Many School and Work Settings LLOYD G. HUMPHREYS AND DAVID LUBINSKI III. What Do We Know about Proper Provisions for the Gifted? 7. Motivating Academically Able Youth with Enriched and Accelerated Learning Experiences JOHN F. FELDHUSEN 8. Gifted Youth: A Challenge for Science Education LYNN W. GLASS 9. Acceleration as an Option for the Highly Gifted Adolescent 169 NANCY M. ROBINSON 10. Acceleration among the Terman Males: Correlates in Midlife and After 179 LEE J. CRONBACH 11. The Elephant in the Classroom: Ability Grouping and the Gifted 192 ELLIS B. PAGE AND TIMOTHY Z. KEITH 12. What Is Learned in School and What Is Learned Outside? 211 JAMES S. COLEMAN IV. The Use of Knowledge: The SMPY Project 217 13. Quo Vadis America? 221 ARNOLD E. ROSS 14. In the Beginning: The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth 225 JULIAN C. STANLEY 15. Contributions of the Talent-Search Concept to Gifted Education 236 JOYCE VAN TASSEL-BASKA 16. Nurturing Exceptional Talent: SET as a Legacy of SMPY 246 LINDA E. BRODY AND CAROL C. BLACKBURN 17. The Impact of SMPY’s Educational Programs from the Perspective of the Participant 266 CAMILLA PERSSON BENBOW, DAVID LUBINSKI, AND BABETTE SUCHY 18. Correlates of High Mathematical Ability in a National Sample of Eighth Graders 301 RICHARD E. SNOW AND MICHELE ENNIS V. Psychometrics: Generality and Specificity 329 19. The Utility of Out-of-Level Testing for Gifted Seventh and Eighth Graders Using the SAT-M: An Examination of Item Bias 333 CAMILLA PERSSON BENBOW AND LEROY WOLINS 20. Construct Validity of the SAT-M: A Comparative Study of High School Students and Gifted Seventh Graders 347 LOLA L. MINOR AND CAMILLA PERSSON BENBOW 21. The Generalizability of Empirical Research Results 362 BETSY JANE BECKER 22. Possible New Approaches to the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth 384 N. L. GAGE VI. Giftedness ^ Genius 391 23. Giftedness and Genius: Crucial Differences 393 ARTHUR R. JENSEN Appendix 413 Index 419 - Contributors Betsy Jane Becker, Ph.D., Professor of Education, Department of Counseling, Edu cational Psychology, and Special Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan Cam illa Persson Benbow, Ed.D., Distinguished Professor o f Psychology, Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Carol C. Blackburn, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Study of Exceptional Talent, Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Director, Minnesota Twin and Adoption Study, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Min neapolis, Minnesota L in d a E. B ro d y , Ed.D., Director, Study of Exceptional Talent, Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland Jam es S. C o le m a n , Ph.D., University Professor of Sociology Emeritus (deceased), De partment of Sociology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois L ee J. C r o n b a c h , Ph.D., Vida Jacks Professor of Education Emeritus, School of Educa tion, Stanford University, Stanford, California M ichele Ennis, Ph.D., Associate Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research, Palo Alto, California J o h n F. Feldhusen, Ph.D., Robert B. Kane Distinguished Professor of Education, De partment of Educational Studies and Gifted Education Resource Institute, Purdue Uni versity, West Lafayette, Indiana N. L. G a g e , Ph.D., Margaret Jacks Professor of Education Emeritus, School of Educa tion, Stanford University, Stanford, California Jam es J. G a l l a g h e r , Ph.D., Kenan Professor of Education, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina L y n n W. G la s s , Ph.D., University Professor of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa L lo y d G. Humphreys, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology Emeritus, Department of Psy chology, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois A r t h u r R. Je n se n , Ph.D., Professor of Educational Psychology, School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, California X Contributors T im o th y Z. K e ith , Ph.D., Professor of School Psychology, Alfred University, Alfred, New York H e r b e r t J. Klausmeier, Ph.D., V. A. C. Henmon Professor of Educational Psychology Emeritus, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin David Lubinski, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa D a v id T. L yk k en , Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Univer sity of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota M atthew McGue, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Univer sity of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota Lola L. Minor, M.A., Graduate Student of Psychology (deceased), Department of Psychology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland E l l i s B. P a g e , Ed.D., Professor of Educational Psychology and Research, Program in Education, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina A. H arry Passow, Ed.D., Jacob H . Schiff Professor of Education Emeritus (deceased), Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York N a n c y M. R o b in so n , Ph.D., Director, Halbert Robinson Center for the Study of Capa ble Youth, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington A r n o l d E. Ross, Ph.D., Professor of Mathematics Emeritus, Department of Mathemat ics, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio R i c h a r d E. Sn ow , Ph.D., Howard H. and Jesse T. Watkins University Professor, School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California J u li a n C. S ta n le y , Ed.D., Professor of Psychology and Director, Study of Mathe matically Precocious Youth, Department of Psychology, Johns Hopkins University, Bal timore, Maryland Babette Suchy, B.A., Graduate Student in Psychology, Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa A b ra h a m J. Tannenbaum, Ph.D., Professor of Education Emeritus, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York Joyce Van Tassel-Baska, Ed.D., Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Education, School of Education, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia Auke Tellegen, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota Leroy W olins, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology Emeritus, Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Preface n April 19,1992, almost a hundred individuals made a pilgrimage to San Francisco to attend a symposium conducted in honor of Julian C. Stanley and his career achievements. The symposium was entitled “From Psychometrics to Giftedness,” a fitting description of Julian’s O career path. It was attended by many of his former as well as current colleagues and students, including a research participant in his Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth. This book grew out of that symposium. All but four of the presentations were expanded upon and developed into chapters for this volume. Eight chap ters were added to round out the book’s coverage of the subject matter. The book is meant to tell an important story, and we believe it does. It begins with a discussion of IQ and the educational acceleration of gifted children, and how work in this area is affected by the Zeitgeist. A major theme is how political climates and emotions influence scientific inquiry by limiting both the ques tions posed and what knowledge obtained from social science research is actu ally put into practice. What we have learned is that little of what is applied is consistent with what research informs us are good practices. Rather, we are attracted to fads with insufficient empirical support. This leads to two questions: what do we actually know, and what would happen if our knowledge were applied? We decided to approach these issues by having several contributors examine one problem: how properly to educate children with exceptional academic talents. There is much that we know about this topic and have known for quite some time, as the chapters reveal. When this knowledge is applied, as it was by Julian Stanley through his Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth, the results are simply striking. This leads one to wonder more generally what could the state of education in the United States be if we actually applied what works and resisted the temptation to jump on the next bandwagon. The current state of affairs in education and the social sci ences could be considered malpractice.