Chapter 14: Children on Different Developmental Paths

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Chapter 14 Children on Different Developmental
Paths

• Children Who Thrive
• Gifted, Talented, and Resilient Children
• Kati Tumaneng (for Drs. Cook and Cook)

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Gifted and Talented Children

• Children who show extraordinary achievement in
  one or more areas.
• Some are globally gifted while others are
  unevenly gifted.
• Three characteristics
• Precocious
• March to their own drummer
• A rage to master!
• (Ellen Winner)

GT World http//gtworld.org/
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A Longitudinal Study of Gifted and Talented Teens
(Csikzentmihalyi)

• Teachers in Chicago suburbs nominated 208
  students who were felt to show great promise
  (Csikzentmihalyi, Rathunde, Whalen, 1997).
• Students followed through high school activities
  compared to average teens.
• Talented teens more self-critical, rated selves
  as less happy, showed strong intrinsic
  motivation, desire for challenge.

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Time Spent by Talented High School Students
(Csikzentmihalyi et al., 1997)
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Termans Kids The Classic Study of Gifted
Individuals

• Began in 1921 sampled more than 1,500 children
  with exceptional intelligence or talent (Terman,
  1947).
• Goal to see how they fared in life.
• Termites were larger, healthier, better
  adjusted than average children (Shurkin, 1992
  Terman, 1925).
• Study still continues today, more than 80 years
  after it began (Holahan Sears, 1995).

Terman http//www.indiana.edu/intell/terman.shtm
l
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Resilient Children Thriving through Adversity

• Resilient children Children who succeed,
  achieve, or otherwise have positive developmental
  outcomes despite growing up under negative
  conditions (Garmezy, 1985 Luthar, Cicchetti,
  Becker, 2000 Rutter, 1987).
• When researchers study resilient children, they
  consider risk factors and protective factors that
  interact throughout their development.

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Resilient Children Thriving through Adversity

• Risk factors Characteristics of children or
  aspects of childrens environments that tend to
  be associated with developmental problems.
• Risk chains Situations where one risk factor
  leads to another.
• Protective factors Characteristics of children
  or aspects of childrens environment that block
  or reduce the negative impact of risk factors.

Resilient Children http//www.nwrel.org/cfc/frc/
beyus1.html
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Risk and Protective Factors and Characteristics
of Resilient Children
(Kirby Fraser, 1997 Katz, 1997)
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Risk and Protective Factors and Characteristics
of Resilient Children
(Kirby Fraser, 1997 Katz, 1997)
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Resilient Children Thriving through Adversity

• Children demonstrate resilience in different ways
  (Kirby Fraser, 1997).
• Some use intelligence and coping skills to play a
  bad hand well (Katz, 1997).
• Others suffer negative effects but find a way to
  bounce back.
• Others beat the odds.
• Keep in mind that they may seem well adjusted and
  successful, but may show signs of trauma on the
  inside (Luthar et al., 2000).
• Never know how much better their lives could have
  been if they had not been exposed to risk factors.

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A Few Final Thoughts

• Childrens development is complex.
• Think about childrens development from several
  different perspectives.
• Be active in your thinking about and analysis of
  child development information.
• Most importantly, be an active advocate for
  children!

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• Graph on Slide 4 from Cook, J. L., Cook, G.
  (2005). Child development Principles and
  perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 583). Boston Allyn
  and Bacon.
• Table on Slide 8 from Cook, J. L., Cook, G.
  (2005). Child development Principles and
  perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 589). Boston Allyn
  and Bacon.
• Table on Slide 9 from Cook, J. L., Cook, G.
  (2005). Child development Principles and
  perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 589). Boston Allyn
  and Bacon.
• All other images retrieved from Microsoft
  PowerPoint Clip Art.