A broadly based analysis of mathematical giftedness

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This article addresses several questions raised by contemporary research on mathematical giftedness. Most issues are confronted empirically, based on a stratified random sample of 95,650 tenth-grade students and a highly select subsample of mathematically gifted individuals (boys N = 497, girls N = 508) drawn from this larger pool. Psychological profiles of the mathematically gifted were compared (by gender) to those of their normative cohorts. Typical gender differentiating attributes (e.g., interest patterns) were less stereotyped in gifted boys and girls; and students' homes covered a broad socioeconomic spectrum. Mathematically gifted students were found to be intellectually superior across a wide range of cognitive abilities; however, evidence for somewhat more mathematical specificity in the gifted than in the general population was also detected. The hypothesis that spatial visualization interacts synergistically with mathematical ability in the prediction of sophisticated levels of advanced mathematics was tested with negative results. “Classic” male/female differences were observed on measures of mathematical ability with the former generating larger means and variances. We suggest that gender differences reflected by these two statistics may have distinct antecedents. The social implications for not attending to group differences in ability-dispersion are discussed in the context of ability assessment in general and meta-analytic reviews in particular. Longitudinal data (13 years) revealed that 8% of gifted males and 19% of gifted females in the follow-up samples did not obtain college degrees. For the era of the 60s this difference is not surprising, but the proportion of both sexes who did not make full use of their abilities is shocking. Many of our results correspond to other longitudinal findings, such as Terman's classic studies as well as ongoing contemporary investigations on mathematical giftedness.