How Can We Better Understand, Identify, and Support Highly Gifted and Profoundly Gifted Students? A Literature Review of the Psychological Development of Highly-Profoundly Gifted Individuals and Overexcitabilities (original) (raw)

Focussing on overexcitabilities: Studies with intellectually gifted and academically talented adults

Personality and Individual Differences, 2011

The concept of ''overexcitability'' has recently become popular within the field of giftedness and talent research. Some authors argue that overexcitability questionnaires can be used to identify gifted/talented individuals. A sample of intellectually gifted adults (n = 96; mean age: 31.4; SD = 0.3) was compared to a sample of adults of average intelligence (n = 91; mean age: 31.4; SD = 0.4). Additionally, a sample of 123 high achievers (mean age = 30.5; SD = 0.3) was compared to 97 average achievers (mean age: 30.5; SD = 0.3). The ''Overexcitability Questionnaire-Two'' was used to assess emotional, imaginational, intellectual, psychomotor, and sensual overexcitability. The gifted adults scored statistically significantly higher on ''intellectual overexcitability'' (d = .42). High and average achievers differed statistically significantly in ''intellectual overexcitability'' (d = .56) and ''sensual overexcitability'' (d = .32). For the giftedness sample, the accuracy of group membership prediction (gifted/non-gifted) via discriminant analyses was 60.4%. For the performance sample, the accuracy was 63.4%. The observed differences in the overexcitabilities were small; the risk of misclassification is too big to attempt to identify gifted or high achieving adults solely on the basis of overexcitability scores.

Overexcitabilities and Psychological Issues among Gifted Learners at Higher Education Level

International journal of academic research in business & social sciences, 2021

Gifted learners are more advance as compared to learners of their chronological age. Along with this advancement, these learners faced asynchronous development that makes them has the characteristics of sensitive, perfectionistic, deep reflective thinking and moral issues that affect them more deeply. Apart from the asynchronous development, these learners also showed the high intensity of having overexcitabilities. Overexcitability is the mode of experiencing with heightened sensitivity. Studies found that gifted learners who experience overexcitability are more likely to be misunderstood and alienated than those who do not have these sensitives. Thus, this study aims to discuss gifted learners' overexcitabilities and psychological issues at the higher education level. Past research shows a relationship between overexcitabilities with perfectionism, insomnia, fear of the unknown, death anxiety, and depression. By helping gifted learners identify psychological issues earlier, counsellors should be able to help the student find meaning and purpose in their daily activities. Therefore, future research should focus on how counselling gifted learners about overexcitability will be able to overcome their limitations so they can reach tremendous potential and achieve higher levels of development.