THE EXPERIENCE OF GIFTEDNESS - A CONCEPT MAP

Gifted students' written responses to a phenomenological probe (i.e., ''What is it like to be gifted?'') were qualitatively reduced to a set of exhaustive and representative items. Students then performed free card sorts on these items, which they also rated for application to th em. Multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis of students' sorts s uggest positive and negative elements of the experience of giftedness along internal and interpersonal dimensions. We conclude with implicat ions of our findings for research and teaching with gifted adolescents .