An investigation of cognitive skills and behavior in high ability students

article i nfo The purpose of thisstudy was to investigate the cognitive and behavioral profiles of high ability students. Perfor- mance on measures of verbal and visuo-spatial working memory and general ability (vocabulary and block de- sign) was compared across the following groups: high, average, and low ability students. The behavioral profile of high ability students was also compared with those with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. The working memory performance was superior in the high ability students compared to the low and average ability groups, though the relationship between working memory and IQ weakens as a function of increasing ability. The findings are discussed in light of Spearman's law of diminishing returns. The behavioral profile of this group indicates similar features in some respects to those with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD, however, underlying explanations may dif- fer and should be taken into consideration in future research on dual needs in high ability students.

[1]  Ian J. Deary,et al.  Intelligence and the differentiation hypothesis , 1996 .

[2]  T. Alloway,et al.  Investigating the predictive roles of working memory and IQ in academic attainment. , 2010, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[3]  Anne N. Rinn,et al.  Gifted or ADHD? The possibilities of misdiagnosis , 2004 .

[4]  M. J. van der Molen.  Working memory structure in 10- and 15-year old children with mild to borderline intellectual, disabilities. , 2010, Research in developmental disabilities.

[5]  T. Alloway.  Working Memory, but Not IQ, Predicts Subsequent Learning in Children with Learning Difficulties , 2009 .

[6]  M. Just,et al.  From the SelectedWorks of Marcel Adam Just 1992 A capacity theory of comprehension : Individual differences in working memory , 2017 .

[7]  John D. Sweetland,et al.  WISC-III Verbal/Performance Discrepancies Among a Sample of Gifted Children , 2006 .

[8]  P. Schwanenflugel,et al.  Development of Metacognition in Gifted Children: Directions for Future Research , 1995 .

[9]  S. Pfeiffer,et al.  Vulnerabilities of Academically Gifted Students , 2000 .

[10]  Mary K. Hoard,et al.  Developmental Neuropsychology Mathematical Cognition in Intellectually Precocious First Graders , 2008 .

[11]  I. Deary,et al.  Intelligence and educational achievement , 2007 .

[12]  John O. Willis,et al.  Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence , 2014 .

[13]  P. Ackerman,et al.  Working Memory and Intelligence : The Same or Different Constructs ? , 2005 .

[14]  J. Oakhill,et al.  Children's Reading Comprehension Ability: Concurrent Prediction by Working Memory, Verbal Ability, and Component Skills. , 2004 .

[15]  R. Barkley.  Behavioral inhibition, sustained attention, and executive functions: constructing a unifying theory of ADHD. , 1997, Psychological bulletin.

[16]  Dawn P. Flanagan,et al.  The Wechsler Intelligence Scales and Gf-Gc Theory: A Contemporary Approach to Interpretation , 1999 .

[17]  S. Gathercole,et al.  Are working memory measures free of socioeconomic influence? , 2008, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[18]  S. Owen,et al.  Gifted Students with Attention Deficits: Fact and/or Fiction? Or, Can We See the Forest for the Trees? , 1998 .

[19]  F. Castellanos,et al.  Characterizing cognition in ADHD: beyond executive dysfunction , 2006, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[20]  G. Brody,et al.  Maternal resources, parenting practices, and child competence in rural, single-parent African American families. , 1998, Child development.

[21]  S. Gathercole,et al.  Examining the link between working memory behaviour and academic attainment in children with ADHD , 2010, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[22]  Richard E. Mayer,et al.  Intelligence and education , 2004 .

[23]  Susan E. Gathercole,et al.  Working memory and phonological awareness as predictors of progress towards early learning goals at school entry , 2005 .

[24]  S. Gathercole,et al.  Working memory in children with reading disabilities. , 2006, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[25]  F. R. Olenchak,et al.  The Alphabet Children: GT, ADHD, and More , 2002 .

[26]  C. Benbow,et al.  Type of stimulus mediates the relationship between working-memory performance and type of precocity , 1994 .

[27]  Intellectual differences among Mexican Americans, Papagos and Whites, independent of g , 1999 .

[28]  R. Cattell,et al.  Abilities : Their Structure , Growth , and Action , 2015 .

[29]  K. Solly.  Gifted and talented , 2007 .

[30]  S. Hogg-Johnson,et al.  A meta-analysis of working memory impairments in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. , 2005, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[31]  Juan Pascual-Leone,et al.  Development of mental attention in gifted and mainstream children: the role of mental capacity, inhibition, and speed of processing. , 2003, Child development.

[32]  Andrew R. A. Conway,et al.  Working memory capacity and its relation to general intelligence , 2003, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[33]  T. Keith,et al.  Spearman's law of diminishing returns in hierarchical models of intelligence for children and adolescents , 2007 .

[34]  Mary K. Hoard,et al.  Numerical and arithmetical cognition: patterns of functions and deficits in children at risk for a mathematical disability. , 1999, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[35]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .

[36]  James H. Borland.  Myth 2: The Gifted Constitute 3% to 5% of the Population. Moreover, Giftedness Equals High IQ, Which Is a Stable Measure of Aptitude , 2009 .

[37]  R. Shute,et al.  The emotional and behavioural adjustment of intellectually gifted adolescents: a multi-dimensional, multi-informant approach , 2003 .

[38]  Pamela Cole,et al.  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 1960, Nature.

[39]  S. Gathercole,et al.  The Diagnostic Utility of Executive Function Assessments in the Identification of ADHD in Children. , 2010, Child and adolescent mental health.

[40]  William F. Morrison,et al.  Emotional/behavioral disabilities and gifted and talented behaviors: Paradoxical or semantic differences in characteristics? , 2001 .

[41]  Elizabeth Mika.  Giftedness, ADHD, and overexcitabilities: The possibilities of misinformation , 2006 .

[42]  Julian Elliott,et al.  The working memory rating scale: A classroom-based behavioral assessment of working memory , 2009 .

[43]  H. Swanson.  Cognitive processes that underlie mathematical precociousness in young children. , 2006, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[44]  Dewey G. Cornell,et al.  Low Incidence of Behavior Problems among Elementary School Students in Gifted Programs , 1995 .

[45]  Tracy Packiam Alloway,et al.  Verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory in children: are they separable? , 2006, Child development.

[46]  Kate Distin.  Gifted Children: A Guide for Parents and Professionals , 2006 .

[47]  Ellen Winner,et al.  EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH INTELLIGENCE AND SCHOOLING , 1997 .

[48]  Janet B W Williams,et al.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , 2013 .

[49]  Michael Anderson.  Intelligence and Development: A Cognitive Theory , 1992 .

[50]  D. Bjorklund,et al.  A developmental perspective on individual differences in inhibition , 1994 .

[51]  N. J. Groth.  Mothers of Gifted , 1975 .

[52]  Gifted and Talented , 1999 .

[53]  C. Blair.  How similar are fluid cognition and general intelligence? A developmental neuroscience perspective on fluid cognition as an aspect of human cognitive ability. , 2006, The Behavioral and brain sciences.

[54]  S. Gathercole,et al.  Evaluating the validity of the Automated Working Memory Assessment , 2008 .

[55]  S. Gathercole,et al.  The cognitive and behavioral characteristics of children with low working memory. , 2009, Child development.

[56]  B. Shore.  Metacognition and flexibility: Qualitative differences in how gifted children think. , 2000 .

[57]  T. Alloway,et al.  Working memory and executive function profiles of individuals with borderline intellectual functioning. , 2010, Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR.

[58]  Jeffrey S. Bedwell,et al.  Continuous Performance Test , 2012 .

[59]  Roberto Colom,et al.  Working memory and intelligence , 2003 .

[60]  Michael C. Pyryt.  Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor analytic studies , 1998 .

[61]  Mitul A Mehta,et al.  Methylphenidate improves working memory and set-shifting in AD/HD: relationships to baseline memory capacity. , 2004, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[62]  D. Goldstein,et al.  To Be Young, Gifted, and Strategic: Advantages for Memory Performance , 1996 .