Identification of gifted students using a neuropsychophysiological paradigm: An exploratory study.

The development of an accurate assessment paradigm that identifies students as capable of high performance in a variety of areas is urgently needed in education. Current strategies tend to identify only those students who are intellectually or academically gifted. Gifted students who possess other strengths or pupils who exhibit atypical behavior are often overlooked or misidentified in the process. A few educational theorists/practitioners, believe that current practice should be supplemented by some of the testing protocols typically associated with the field of neuropsychophysiology (i.e. neurology, psychology, physiology). This study develops a neuropsychophysiological paradigm that differentiates high average, gifted, and gifted students with perceived behavior problems. Sixty-six students, 10--12 years of age, participated in the study. After being screened for incidents of psychopathology, each student completed 14 timed/untimed relaxation and performance conditions while being monitored by EEG and biofeedback technology. The data were analysed quantitatively using three non-parametric tests. The results of the data analysis suggest that high average, gifted, and gifted students with perceived behavior problems can be differentiated using a neuropsychophysiological paradigm. Foremost in the conclusions is the suggestion that gifted students may excel in two domains intellectual and psychophysiological, and that gifted students with perceived behavior problems may be a legitimate subgroup of the larger population