Beyond Knowledge

Extracognitive Aspects of Developing High Ability

Larisa V. Shavinina, Michel Ferrari

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2004
• ISBN:
  9781135642822
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Some aspects of giftedness and creativity cannot be explained by cognitive, developmental, personality, or social approaches considered in isolation. At the intersection of these approaches is something invisible, deeply hidden, but at the same time very important--the extracognitive facets of high ability. This volume brings together chapters by leading specialists from around the world responsible for much of the current research in this field, presenting a wide range of perspectives for understanding exceptional achievement. "High ability" refers to human abilities described by terms, such as giftedness, talent, creativity, excellence, genius, child prodigies, exceptional leadership, and wisdom. "Extracognitive factors" refer to phenomena like internally developed standards and subjective norms of intellectually creative behavior; specific intellectual intentions and beliefs that influence exceptional achievements; specific feelings that scientific geniuses and other highly creative individuals say contribute to their advanced development; specific preferences and intellectual values; luck, chance, intuition, and other similar phenomena in extraordinary development and performance; and social, cultural, and historical influences on talent development. Although there are many books about the cognitive bases of high ability, this volume uniquely discusses the foundations of such achievements in extracognitive factors as defined here, thus providing a rich source of information on this topic to researchers, practitioners, and graduate students of education, psychology, business, and administration who work in the area of high ability.

Part I
INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1
Extracognitive Facets of Developing High Ability: Introduction to Some Important Issues

Larisa V. Shavinina

Eric Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, Ontario

Michel Ferrari

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

One way to understand the history of human civilization is via its inventions and discoveries. All human cultural development builds on the amazing technological, scientific, educational, and moral achievements of the human mind. People of exceptionally high ability thus remain an extremely important source of cultural innovation and renewal. By “high ability,’’ we mean exceptional human abilities referred to by terms like giftedness, talent, creativity, genius, child prodigies, innovation, and wisdom. Despite the evident social importance of highly able people, the phenomenon of high ability is far from well understood.

Extracognitive facets play an essential role in the development and expression of exceptional achievement. Extracognitive facets are those that go beyond cognition. In other words, they concern those facets of intelligence that are not captured by many traditional accounts of giftedness or expertise. These include various feelings (e.g., feeling of beauty), temperament, and institutional and cultural influences critical to developing high ability. These facets lie at the intersection of many branches of psychology (e.g., personality, cognitive, and developmental psychology) and of many subdisciplines of the psychology of high ability (e.g., psychology of giftedness, creativity, and wisdom).

The history of psychology has at least two long-established research traditions that aim to study extracognitive facets in high ability: the study of personality traits associated with high ability (the so-called personality trait approach¹ in the psychology of giftedness and creativity) and the investigation of social factors facilitating the development of human talents. We review them briefly here to allow readers to situate our book with regard to these traditions.

STUDIES OF EXCEPTIONAL ABILITY

Personality Traits Associated With High Ability

Even a brief look at studies conducted within the personality trait approach demonstrates that this approach is one of the earliest, most traditional, and popular approaches in psychology of high ability. This tradition began with the work of Sir Francis Galton (1869/1891) on genius and heredity and his attempts to measure human intelligence. Galton’s studies include an early research on both cognitive and extracognitive facets of high ability, particularly the personality of gifted individuals. Almost all researchers include certain personality traits in their theories, conceptions, and models of giftedness and creativity. Findings and achievements in the personality trait approach are very important; understanding the personality of gifted, creative, and talented individuals has great scientific significance. In general, two directions of research on personality traits of highly able individuals can be distinguished: studies of gifted children, and studies of genius and eminent persons.²

Studies of Gifted Children

Terman’s (1925, 1954) pioneering studies of more than 1,000 gifted children continued the Galtonian tradition of research and significantly strengthened scientists’ interest in personality traits of highly able individuals. Terman’s investigations are the most widely recognized and frequently quoted research on the personality traits (characteristics, peculiarities, qualities, etc.) of gifted people. In his early studies, Terman found that, in tests of “character,’’ gifted children scored higher than the control group; in trait ratings by parents and teachers, gifted children excelled in intellectual, emotional, moral, physical, and social traits. The conclusion he reached as a result of 30 years of follow-up studies on his initial group was that notable achievement calls for more than high intelligence. In particular, he emphasized personality, especially ‘‘persistence in the accomplishment of ends, integration toward goals, selfconfidence, freedom from inferiority feelings, all-round emotional and social adjustment, and drive to achieve” (Terman & Oden, 1959, p. 148).

Likewise, Hollingworth (1926, 1942) showed that gifted children manifest early interest in reading and are above average in emotional stability, as well as walking and talking earlier than other children. They were also less neurotic, more self-sufficient, and more self-confident than the population with which they were compared.

Leites’ (1960, 1971, 1996) studies of extremely gifted, creative, and talented children showed that very high mental activity (i.e., the ability to carry out mental tasks, cognitive curiosity, the desire to ask questions, the capacity to engage in high intellectual learning and mental efforts, strong need for mental work, etc.) and self-regulation (i.e., independent formulation of purposes, planning one’s own activities, etc.) are the most general basic factors of giftedness and are the distinguishing characteristics of these children.

Feldman (1979) also found that prodigiousness is a reflection of the strong interests and motivation of extremely gifted children.

Perhaps the most striking quality in the children in our study as well as other cases is the passion with which excellence is pursued. Commitment and tenacity and joy in achievement are perhaps the best signs that a coincidence has occurred among child, field and moment in evolutionary time. (Feldman, 1979, p. 351)

Exceptional Adults

Cox’s (1926) monumental study of great geniuses definitely deserves mention here. One of her three well-known conclusions was that “youths who achieve eminence are characterized not only by high intellectual traits, but also by the greatest degree of persistence of motive and effort, confidence in their abilities and great strength or force of character [..]. The superior youths [..] pursued high ideas, developed significant interests [..]” (Cox, 1926, p. 50).

Similarly, in her pioneering study of the characteristics of gifted adult scientists, Roe (1952, 1958, 1983) found that early in their lives, exceptional individuals all showed considerable independence and developed intense private interests that, except for the social scientists, were shared with few others. They read a lot and enjoyed school and studying; they were curious and this plays a major role in their lives. Their early interests differentiated between groups. Biologists were interested in natural history, social scientists contemplated literary careers. Biologists relied heavily on rational control. Physicists were not interested in people, avoided interpersonal relationships, and were often anxious. Social scientists were concerned with human relationships. They were capable of hard work and deep concentration, and obtained a great deal of satisfaction from their work. All of Roe’s subjects had a high level of commitment to their work.

More recently, MacKinnon (1960, 1978) showed the following traits to be characteristics of creative, highly effective individuals, and important in creative accomplishments: openness to experience, freedom from crippling restraints and impoverishing inhibitions, aesthetic sensitivity, independence in thoughts and actions, individuality, unquestioning commitment to creative endeavor, emotional stability or personal soundness, enthusiasm, determination, and industry.

Considering research on both exceptional children and exceptional adults, a general picture of personality characteristics of gifted, creative, and talented individuals emerges:

Motivation: drive to achieve excellence, intrinsic achievement motivation: high level of self-motivation or task motivation; the passion with which excellence is pursued; a powerful desire for self-advancement. Most researchers distinguish motivation as a central characteristic among many other traits of gifted individuals.

For example, task motivation: one of the major personality characteristics implicated in Amabile’s (1983) conception of creativity. According to Amabile, task motivation includes the individual’s motivation for undertaking the task and his or her perception of this motivation. Tannenbaum (1986) also asserted that “without the support of nonintellective traits, such as the capacity and willingness to work hard in achieving excellence, it is impossible to rise above mediocrity” (p. 31). Renzulli (1986) and Rahn (1986) expressed similar views. Thus, Renzulli (1986) included “task commitment” in his conception of giftedness and stressed that the “argument for including this nonintellective cluster of traits in a definition of giftedness is nothing short of overwhelming. From popular claims and autobiographical accounts to empirical research findings, one of the key ingredients that has characterized the work of gifted persons is their ability to involve themselves totally in a specific problem or area for an extended period of time” (p. 70). Rahn (1986) studied the German winners of the annual competition Jugend forscht (youth conducts research), and concluded that factors such as interests, individual goals, and action competencies are more important than intelligence.

Heller (1993), having analyzed high ability within the psychometric paradigm, still emphasized extracognitive personality traits of gifted individuals which are frequently mentioned in the literature—specifically, intrinsic achievement motivation, goal orientation and persistence at tasks, tolerance of ambiguity, uncertainty and complexity, clear interests, and nonconformity. He identified motivation as one of the most powerful long-range predictors of professional success in science and technology. Howe (1990, 1993) and Perleth, Lehwald, and Browder (1993) regarded curiosity and interest as important for the development of high ability.

These motivational characteristics manifest themselves in a child’s behavior [..]. During childhood, curiosity manifests itself in exploratory behavior. Therefore, the latter may be used as an early indicator of intellectual functioning [..]. (Perleth et al., 1993, p. 297)

Feldhusen and Jarwan (1993) considered various definitions of giftedness and mention specific traits.

Trait definitions are derived from psychological characteristics that are assumed to differentiate gifted children from others [..]. Unusual curiosity, variety of interests, persistence in attacking difficult mental tasks, etc., are among the traits included in these definitions [..]. (Feldhusen & Jarwan, 1993, p. 234)

Character/temperament: perseverance, endurance, hard work; self-confidence; persistence in the accomplishment of ends, integration towards a goal; independence, preference for working alone, individualism; determination, industry; belief in one’s ability to carry out important work; nonconformity; the ability to involve oneself completely in a specific problem or area for an extended period of time; self-sufficiency; positive self-concept, high self- esteem; internal locus of control; ambition, striving toward success; high self- criticism; highly developed feeling for justice; well developed self-regulation.

Emotion: freedom from feelings of inferiority; enthusiasm; special fascination for the subject matter of one’s chosen field; emotional stability; joy in achievements; boundless energy; high emotional perceptiveness; and a great satisfaction with work.

The most fundamental finding of the personality trait approach is therefore the unquestioned fact of the unique personality of highly able people. Certainly, this picture does not account for all possible personality characteristics of gifted, creative, and talented individuals. However, it provides a useful demonstration of the unique personalities of those who are considered gifted. While these studies revealed key personality traits associated with high ability, another important body of work has pointed to socio-cultural factors that are critical to fostering the sort of personality that produces exceptional achievements.

Sociocultural Factors

The second research tradition studying extracognitive facets of high ability explores social factors facilitating the development of human talent. Sociocultural forces include both micro- and macro-social influences on personal development. Micro-social factors include family, school, “significant others” (e.g., professors or mentors, peers, friends, and other people nearest the gifted at the beginning of their careers; Feldman, 1986; Gardner, 1993; Howe, 1990, 1993; McCurdy, 1992). Macro-social forces include cultural, political, and historical conditions under which a person lives and develops his or her talents that affect their exceptional achievements (e.g., society as a whole, culture, and the particular historical period; Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Simonton, 1988; Sternberg & Lubart, 1995). More details on this approach are given in the chapters that follow.

Although there may be other influences on the development of exceptional ability, this dichotomy provides a broad overview of forces outside of the individual that facilitate the expression of a person’s abilities.

EXTRACOGNITIVE FACTORS IN THE EXPRESSION OF HIGH ABILITY: OVERVIEW OF THE VOLUME

Besides the personality traits and social factors associated with high ability, a third direction in the research on extracognitive facets of high ability includes internally developed standards and subjective norms of intellectual creativity; specific intellectual intentions and beliefs that influence exceptional achievements; specific feelings that scientific geniuses like Albert Einstein and other highly creative individuals say contributes to their advanced development (e.g., feelings of direction, harmony, beauty, and style); specific preferences and intellectual values (e.g., the “inevitable” choice of the field of endeavor by certain geniuses); intuitive processes; and luck, chance, and other similar phenomena in extraordinary development and performance.

This is a relatively new and unexplored direction in the study of high ability. And this is why we have prepared a book on this topic; a volume that reflects cutting-edge thinking and research on the extracognitive facets in high ability. Thus, this book presents an innovative way to address the topic of high ability, within which many insights in the psychology of giftedness, creativity, genius, and wisdom may be hidden. There are many books about the cognitive bases of high ability, but, we believe none discuss the foundations of such achievements in ways that go beyond knowledge. This book is about just such facets that have tremendous impact on the development of an individual’s high ability.

Extracognitive Aspects of Exceptional Creative Achievements

The book begins with a chapter by Runco, entitled “Creativity as an Extra- cognitive Phenomenon.” He proposes that personal creativity depends on extracognitive processes, not ...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• PREFACE
• PART I: INTRODUCTION
• PART II: EXTRACOGNITIVE ASPECTS OF EXCEPTIONAL CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS
• PART III: DEVELOPING EXTRACOGNITIVE ASPECTS OF EXCEPTIONAL ABILITIES
• PART IV: EXTRACOGNITIVE ASPECTS OF HIGH ABILITY AND THE IDEAL ENDS OF DEVELOPMENT
• PART V: CONCLUSION