Just as children have fairly consistent attachment styles toward parents, we argue that parents have fairly consistent attachment styles toward children. It generally will be easiest for gifted children to develop their gifts and display them successfully if their parents were securely attached to them. But the children who have experienced…

Researchers of the gifted have traditionally advanced the theory, though they are often without data to support it, that an association between intellectual and/or creative giftedness and mood disorders exists. This assumed association is often referred to as the "mad genius theory." This article explores the origins and development of…

This article provides further evidence of the often observed sensitive nature displayed by children who are gifted. It also addresses the positive and negative effects that this sensitivity can have on these individuals. Earlier, the authors explored this concept through an analysis of the works and life experiences of Geoffrey, aged 9, a prolific…

Severe socioeconomic inequality strongly suppresses and distorts the discovery of aspirations and the concomitant development of talents among the gifted. More comprehensive understanding of this suppression and distortion is available through a wide-ranging interdisciplinary search for research findings and theories that illuminate economic,…

Discussion of the creative self considers ideas of the described, not defined, self; the differentiated self; intensity, transformation, and development of the creative self; complexity of the creative self; the dialectical self; dialectical personality traits or bipolar mood disorder; and the inventive self. (DB)

An historical review of the alleged association between creativity and madness is followed by highlights from recent research in psychiatry and psychology that address this relationship. The nature of this link is explored from the perspective of several disciplines, and implications for the creative process in gifted education are discussed.…