Synopses & Reviews
Parents and teachers know only too well that during the rebellious teenage years, gifted students often stop cultivating their talents, which may then be lost forever. The authors of this ground-breaking book attempt to uncover what lies at the heart of this loss of human potential. They find the answer in the realm of motivation, and the solutions they provide may stem the loss of brain power in future generations of youngsters. \[P\] The findings in this book are the result of a monumental five-year study of a group of exceptionally talented teenagers, examining the role that personality traits, family interactions, education, and the social environment play in a young person's motivation to develop his or her talent. Essential to motivation, the authors conclude, is the experience of \'flow,\' an optimal state of consciousness that occurs when people are able to meet the challenges of their environment with appropriate skills, and accordingly feel a sense of well-being, a sense of mastery, and a heightened sense of self-esteem.\[P\] Parents, teachers, psychologists, and counselors will find in these pages concrete information about the conditions that foster the cultivation of mental abilities in adolescence, both for the gifted and the average student.\[P\] \[I\]Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi\[/I\] has written over 150 scholarly articles and several books, of which the latest \[I\]Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience\[/I\] has been translated into nine languages. \[I\]Kevin Rathunde\[/I\] is a member of the Department of Family Studies at the University of Utah and \[I\]Samuel Whalen\[/I\] is in the Department of Education at the University of Chicago.
Review
'\"For a society concerned about survival, no issue is more important than the cultivation of its talented young, no outcome more devastating than the loss of talented individuals. Once again, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his colleagues demonstrate that well-crafted social science can shed new light on such crucial issues.\" Howard Gardner, author of Art, Mind, and Brain and Frames of Mind\"This major study--one that asks an important question, addresses it through multiple methods, and pulls together an immense amount of data. The authors are to be commended for doing an important piece of work.\" Robert J. Sternberg, author of The Triarchic Mind\"This is the first thorough study of the motivational and affective aspects of being a talented adolescent. In examining the phenomenology of talent in various settings, Csikszentmihalyi and his colleagues rightly stress intrinsic motivation (\'Joy is the best teacher\'), but extrinsic motives--ego and society driven--are not neglected. The blending of quantitative and qualitative methods make this work an important and original contribution to our knowledge of the nurturance and conservation of talent.\" Howard E. Gruber, author of Darwin and Man: A Psychological Study of Scientific Creativity\"Thorough and well-documented...particularly valuable in that its message is applicable to all teenagers, not just to those who are exceptionally talented.\" Teachers Magazine\"Written in a comprehensible reading style, the book is well organized with clear chapter summaries.\" E. Pearson, Choice\"Thorough and well-documented...particularly valuable in that its message is applicable to all teenagers, not just those who are exceptionally talented.\" David Ruenzel, Teacher\"...scholarly, yet readable...examines talent at a stage the researchers believe is more critical because it is in adolescence that a person decides to invest time and personal resources in the development of talent...Highly recommended.\" Connie Allerton, Book Report\"...I am comfortable in recommending this book to anyone interested in secondary gifted education. Nearly every aspect of gifted education is examined, some extensively (e.g., familial influences, academics, and attitudes and motivation)....highly readable.\" Jonathan Plucker, Gifted Education News-Page\"...a thoughtful perspective on the psychological experiences of adolescents.\" American Journal of Education\"...the authors do a commendable job of exploiting to the maximum the three distinctive features of their longitudinal study. Page after page is filled with detailed statistical analyses that address a host of significant questions....the most significant study of talent development to appear since Bloom\'s work almost a decade earlier. It is definitely one of the most important volumes to emerge since Terman\'s classic study. It is must reading for anyone wanting to grasp how the promise of youth converts to the triumphs of maturity....The book is full of wisdom and insights about how best to ensure that these teenagers realize their full potential....There is much in these pages to be learned and pondered.\" Dean Keith Simonton, Contemporary Psychology'
Synopsis
Winner of the 1994 Social Policy Book Award of the Society for Research in Adolescence
Synopsis
'Talented Teenagers is a fascinating and absorbing examination of what makes adolescents tick.'
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-298) and index.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction; Part I. Talented Teens: 2. What is talent?; 3. How the study was conducted: methods and procedures; 4. What are talented teenagers like?; 5. How talented teenagers live; Part II. The development of Talent: 6. Fields and domains of talent in adolescence; 7. The experience of talent; 8. How families influence the development of talent; 9. Schools, teachers, and talent development; Part III. The Cultivation of Talent: 10. Commitment to talent and its correlates; 11. Cultivating talent throughout life; 12. What have we learned?; Appendixes; References; Index.