Students' Perceptions of Ability

Abstract

The present study investigated ability perceptions of 29 intellectually gifted students in the mainstream and 71 average achievers. The Perception of Ability Scale for Students (PASS: formerly the Student's Perception of Ability Scale) was used to assess ability perceptions on three occasions over two years. The results indicated that gifted students held significantly higher ability perceptions in all areas tapped by the PASS except School Satisfaction and Penmanship/Neatness. In general, perceptions of ability were stable for both groups across the two years, although a decline in school satisfaction was noted for both groups. The results suggest that ability perceptions become stable as patterns of performance become stable.