This issue of the "Journal of Children and Youth" is dedicated to the education of gifted and talented children. Problems and possibilities of programs for gifted youth in the areas of educational policy, curriculum development, mainstreaming, characteristics of gifted students, program development and instructional approaches are discussed in 29…

The extent to which free play versus sequenced questioning conditions facilitates preschoolers' associative fluency was investigated in this study. Twenty-four children (12 boys and 12 girls, with a mean age of 50.7 months) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: free play, sequenced questioning, and control. In the sequenced…

Six points appear prominently in modern theory of composition: theory basks in the shadow of literary criticism and scholarship; writing is an act involving creativity, of which theory should take account; creativity depends upon the primacy of personal insight, which is also the basis of intellectual development; the grapholect of standard edited…

Playfulness as a quality of play in young children is seen as related to competence, and as such can be encouraged by making children aware of what they are capable of doing. Guidelines and examples of fostering playfulness in children are spelled out for caretakers. Reference is also made to studies indicating that playfulness is related to the…

An ETV series in Malta, intended for secondary school students of English, sponsored a contest in preparing imaginary newspaper front pages of the past and future. The entries, a number of which are reproduced, indicate that the contest generated a great deal of original thinking on the part of the students, as well as stimulated their interest in…

Designed to help parents meet the extra needs of preschool handicapped children, the booklet provides information and practical suggestions for dealing with self image, creativity, and discipline. Described are activities to develop basic communication, self help, physical, social and academic skills. An additional chapter briefly reviews…

This bibliography offers an historical perspective on imaginary play companions with 48 entries dating from 1891 to 1975. Entries, which include journal articles, monographs, and books, draw heavily from child development literature. A list of 10 titles from general literature related to the subject of imaginary companions is also included. The…

This report reviews and synthesizes psychological and educational research on learning strategies. The report contains an overview of strategy modification; a review of factors influencing strategy selection and use (including intellectual aptitude, personality variables, cognitive style, reception preference, motivation, sex, and prior…

Described are identification procedures, a multi-dimensional screening device (MDSD), and special curriculum for gifted and talented students in Fairfax County, Virginia. Noted are discriminatory aspects of intelligence testing and teacher nomination in identifying gifted children. Described is the development of the MDSD which involves rating…

The study was designed to determine whether (1) creativity training using behavior modification techniques would produce significant gains in test scores of experimental over control subjects; (2) conditioned skills would generalize to a different problem operation--for which training was not given; and (3) training in fluency and flexibility…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the variables of intelligence, creativity, and a language component in preschool disadvantaged Negro children. Major hypotheses were: (1) that the specific components of each variable had higher correlations within each variable than between variables; and (2) that each major loaded on a…

A group of 20 teenagers in a Mobilization for Youth project were involved in the invention and production of educational games. The direct, cooperative participation in such an educational process made the experience a real and creative learning activity which had a comprehensible, achievable goal. These games were not made for competitive sale…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a specific type of perceptual training upon the aesthetic preference for complexity-asymmetry, ability to handle visual information, select variables of perceptual field-independence, and selected variables of creative thinking. A total of 300 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade children in…

This book attempts to teach parents to stimulate creativity in their children. It is concerned with the creativity available to every individual: the ability to be oneself and appreciate one's unique attributes and originality. Chapter contents focus on: (1) what creativity is, and whether it can be cultivated, (2) ways that parents can foster…

This report is part of a general study of Reference Measures for Cognitive and Noncognitive Factors. The specific activity that is being reported is the development of "factor-referenced" tests or "marker" tests for several cognitive factors related to divergent production (i.e., ability to produce a variety of words, phrases,…