No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1981.

In 1980 the cape Education Department launched a Gifted and Talented programme in some schools which was intended to enrich the educational experience of the more able pupils. Numerous studies have shown these pupils to have a higher level of career maturity than non-gifted pupils, but the studies have also shown that these pupils face unique career- development problems. Gifted and Talented pupils constitute an important source of manpower and their potential contribution to the total society is great. Consequently they are in need of effective career guidance to help them overcome their unique problems and realize their potential. This study set out to discover if the career maturity of a group of Standard 9 Gifted and Talented pupils, identified according to the original Cape Education Department criteria, is indeed higher than that of their peers and to make recommendations for facilitating career education among these pupils. Contrary to expectations the Gifted and Talented pupils did not show significantly higher levels of career maturity than their peers, as measured on the Attitude Scale of Crites ' Career Maturity Inventory. Compared with the American norms , the scores obtained by the research population were unfavourable. The validity of the I .Q. scores used and the criteria for identification of Gifted and Talented pupils are seen as questionable which could have led to an inaccurate grouping of the pupils as Gifted and Talented or non- gifted. Recommendations are made for a basic career education programme for all pupils which would include periods of active work experience. Recommendations for additional career education for those currently classified as Gifted and Talented pupils are also made, so as to allow these pupils additional time for self- development, decisionmaking and dealing with their unique life situation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between locus of control and achievement, and between self-concept and achievement in achieving and underachieving gifted students. The subjects were fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in the Anderson Community Schools who were currently participating in the gifted program, or who had been screened for the program, but were not currently participating. The schools that participated in the study represented a cross section of the socio-economic, cultural, and racial composition of the city. The participating subjects had received a score of 120 or above on the Slosson Test of Intelligence. The 60 subjects were divided into two groups based on grades for 5 consecutive six-week grading periods. Students who had received only A and B grades were placed in the achievers group, while students who had received one or more C grades (or below) during the same time period were placed in the underachievers group.Subjects were removed from their classrooms and administered the Nowicki- Strickland Locus of Control for Children and the Piers-Harris SelfConcept Scale in small groups.Multivariate analyses of variance were used to determine if significant differences existed between gifted achievers and underachievers on each of the two instruments. No significant differences were found between the achievers and underachievers on either self-concept or locus of control at the .05 level. Several researchers, including Shavelson and Bolus, (1982) have indicated academic self-concept is more highly correlated with academic achievement than are other dimensions of self-concept. Therefore, subsequent univariate analysis on the Piers-Harris subtests showed that achievers and underachievers were significantly different on the intellectual and school status subscale (F = 9.0, p <.01).As a result of the analysis of the data collected in this study, the findings indicated that, subject to the limitations of this investigation, gifted achievers and underachievers do not differ significantly on measures of locus of control or global self-concept. However, the results of subsequent univariate analyses indicated that, in fact, some differences between the groups may exist. / Department of Educational Leadership

This study examines whether self-esteem and anxiety are related to achievement and aptitude in 28 boys and 20 girls in grades 3 through 6. The influence of 48 mothers' and 42 fathers' self-esteem and anxiety on the child's achievement, aptitude, self-esteem, and anxiety is also assessed. / Main and interaction effects of achievement and aptitude on anxiety are obtained. High achievers have lower anxiety scores than low achievers. Gifted children have higher physiological anxiety than nongifted children. In most cases, gifted low achievers have the highest anxiety scores and gifted high achievers have the lowest. Aptitude and achievement groups do not differ in self-esteem. / Mothers of gifted children report higher total self-esteem than mothers of nongifted children. Fathers of high achievers report higher total self-esteem than fathers of low achievers. Parents do not differ in anxiety. Father total self-esteem is negatively related to anxiety and positively related to self-esteem in boys.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the construct validity of the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (SRBCSS). A confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine if items from the scales of Learning, Motivational, and Creativity Characteristics were able to identify separate homogeneous sets of behavioral characteristics of gifted and talented students.The subjects were 152 third- and fourth-grade students who had been identified as being potential candidates for inclusion in a program for gifted and talented students. SRBCSS forms were completed by regular classroom teachers. The sample was split to allow for cross-validation of results.Two nested three-factor models were established a priori. Maximum likelihood estimates were calculated using LISREL IV (Jorskog & Sorbom, 1978). Models were evaluated using the overall chi-square, residual matrices, the ratio of chi-square to degrees of freedom, increment of fit indices, and differences chi-square.The proposed structure of three-uncorrelated constructs was unable to reconstruct the obtained correlations. The three factors of Learning, Motivation and Creativity were necessary but not sufficient to describe the relationships among the scale items. Allowing the constructs themselves to be interrelated improved the amount of covariation among the items which could be explained. However, adding a fourth Nonconformity Factor provided a more plausible representation of the data than either three-factor solution.However, labeling of the factors may be somewhat ambiguous due to the nature of the factor loadings of the individual items on them. Cross-validation showed a similar pattern of coefficients for the second sample with some "shrinkage" effect.The results of this study suggest that the validity of the constructs of the SRBCSS as establishedin is questionable. While separate dimensions emerged, they were neither easily interpretable nor distinctly separate. It was not clear if the interrelationships of the scale items were due to a sharing of some underlying dimension or to their placement on the scales. In addition, it was suggested that some higher order factor might be needed to account for the relationships found in the data.

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

No description available.

Every day, children throughout the United States are given psychological evaluations for many different clinical and psycho-educational purposes. Very little research has attempted to investigate children's responses to the experience of having intellectual and achievement tests administered. The goal of the current research was to explore the effect a psycho-educational evaluation has on children in areas of self-concept and anxiety. Dependent variables consisted of pre- and post-test measures of anxiety and self-concept. A total of 75 children in the 4th 5th and 6th grades were recruited after referral for evaluation and possible placement in the Talented and Gifted Program or Special Education. This study employed Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), t-tests, multiple regression analysis, and correlational analysis. Findings included initial evidence that children endorsed decreased anxiety after psycho-educational assessments rather than increased anxiety, suggesting that fear of unknown situations may be more anxiety provoking than the actual situation itself, potentially beneficial findings for psychology and psychometric professionals who evaluate children daily. Students endorsement of academic self-concept significantly predicted anxiety after a psycho-educational evaluation, indicating that students who feel capable in academic areas may endorse less anxiety after an evaluation than students who do not feel academically capable. Finally, negative verbal interaction with parents significantly predicted lower general self-concept scores, providing evidence that the manner in which parents verbally relate to their children may have significant impact for the mental health of children.