SEMANTICALLY DIFFERENT - PRESERVICE TEACHERS REACTIONS TO THE GIFTED STUDENT CONCEPT

Human reactions to words contain both meaning and feelings. Cognitive meaning is conditioned by effective contexts, The impact of a videotap ed-based intervention on preservice teachers' semantic reactions to th e concept of gifted students was investigated. Prior research with the same sample showed that nearly 50% of the students in an identified g ifted population felt ''doomed'' to nonsuccess because of their teache rs' preconceptions, Research methods used in the present study include d. focus-group-generated tapes of both achieving: and underachieving g ifted students: semantic differential scales on the evauluative, poten cy and activity dimensions; and posttesting of participants' attitudes and perceptions.