This exploratory study of 79 high school students examined overexcitability assessment as a potential method for identifying giftedness. Overexcitability (an intensified way of experiencing the world) can occur in five areas: psychomotor, sensual, imaginational, intellectual, and emotional. The measure of overexcitability differentiated gifted and…

Examined fetal heart rate and movement in 31 healthy fetuses from 20 weeks through birth and at age 6 months. Found that more active fetuses were more difficult, unpredictable, unadaptable, and active as infants that were less active fetuses, and that higher fetal heart rate was associated with lower emotional tone, activity level, and…

Teachers can provide an effective counterbalance to the effects of an abusive home. They should not allow their skeptical attitudes, fear of liability, defensiveness about discipline, or religious and political affiliations to cloud their perceptions. Teachers can help hurting children by attending to their basic needs for warmth and security,…

Examined whether mothers' and fathers' temperaments influence quality of relationships with sons and daughters and whether divergent relationships exist between adolescent temperament and adolescent-parent relationships for boys and girls. Survey results supported link between parent temperament, particularly maternal temperament, and quality of…

Irritability and activity, components of temperament, were rated for 114 fullterm and 163 preterm infants during five-second application of a cold disc on the thigh and five seconds following. For fullterm infants and preterm females, irritability increased and activity decreased across five trials. Females were more irritable during stimulation,…

Data from 270 men and 277 women on the Ball Aptitude Battery and personality questionnaires were used to test Lowman's matrix of expected characteristics across Holland's six vocational types. Over half of Lowman's predictions were confirmed. General cognitive ability may have affected other results. (SK)

Presents a narrative by a teenager which illustrates how perceptive young people can be about what is happening in their lives and what kind of adult interventions are valuable. Describes the girl's experience with sexual abuse, running away, foster care, and the importance of goals and self-understanding. (RJM)

Provides one perspective of the foster-care experience as described by an individual who spent most of his youth in a foster home. Emphasizes the importance of excelling at something, the damage wrought by impermanence, and the chronic pain that can accompany emotional abuse. Suggests ways to improve child care. (RJM)

Focuses on children's resilience through an account of a young girl growing up poor in a family of Mexican migrant farmworkers. Recounts childhood experiences in white America, attempts at acculturation, and the growing backlash against immigrants. Advocates changes to help young immigrants achieve success. (RJM)

Discusses two types of vocational guidance practices: ethical--reasoned match strategy (Frank Parsons); and technical--square pegs and round holes (Cyril Burt). Suggests that the technical, psychological trait-and-factor matching approach ignores the significance of cultural literacy and general education in shaping a competent vocational…

The relation of the general factor of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) to several response set and personality measures and the circumplex structure was studied with 105 and 1,093 undergraduates. Results support the general factor of the IIP as having a substantial nonbiasing interpretation and indicative of general interpersonal…

The extent to which the resolution of the Eriksonian final stage-related crisis of ego integrity versus despair is predicted by the resolution of earlier conflicts and by personality constructs was studied with 520 older adults. Results are consistent with Eriksonian theory of continuous personality development. (SLD)

A developmental theory of adult intelligence is proposed called PPIK. The PPIK theory integrates intelligence as process, personality, interests, and intelligence-as-knowledge. Data from the study of knowledge structures are examined in the context of the theory and in relation to measures of content abilities. (SLD)

Demonstrates that personality type is an important explanatory variable in student performance in upper level economics courses. Finds that certain personality types, combined with race and gender effects, produce students who outperform other students. Introverts and those with the Keirsey-Bates temperament combination of sensing/judging…

Personal knowledge is essential for learning the artful use of self in therapeutic relationship but is difficult to teach. The Keirsey Temperament Sorter was used to help nursing students identify their communication and interaction preferences and acquire personal knowledge on a journey toward understanding the power of therapeutic nurse-patient…