An Instrument for the Measure of Dabrowskian Overexcitabilities to Identify Gifted Elementary Students.

The ElemenOE is a Likert-scaled observation checklist developed in this study to measure 5 personality characteristics in elementary school children, with predictive validity for identifying giftedness. The characteristics, named “overexcitabilities,” are described within the context of Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration. Five scholars of Dabrowski’s theory rated an initial 100 items for content validity. The 61 strongest items comprised the pilot instrument, which teachers used to describe 373 students. Exploratory factor analysis using varimax rotation found factors that related to the 5 OEs. Items with loadings of less than .5 were eliminated, thus creating the 30-item ElemenOE. Teachers used the ElemenOE to describe 171 gifted and nonidentified children. A discriminant analysis yielded one function that significantly discriminated between groups. The ElemenOE classified 76% of gifted students and 42% of nonidentified students as having similar OE profiles. These results indicate that, with revisions, the ElemenOE may be useful in identifying gifted students who are missed by traditional identification measures. P U T T I N G T H E R E S E A R C H T O U S E The use of the ElemenOE shows potential as an alternative assessment for identifying gifted students. It was not surprising that 76% of students a priori identified as gifted by traditional means shared personality characteristics of higher Intellectual overexcitability. The fact that 42.7% of the students who had not been identified as gifted also shared higher Intellectual overexcitability inspires questions about why those students were not participating in gifted programs. The 76% of gifted students with higher Intellectual overexcitability also shared the trait of lower Psychomotor overexcitability, a result that was surprising because prior research has found that gifted people tend to have higher overexcitability than nonidentified people. Is it possible that the more physically demonstrative or active students are overlooked for gifted programs? The research also points out the distinction between the innate characteristics of overexcitabilities that overlap and yet are distinct from the behaviors and achievements that tend to identify children as gifted. Further research needs to be done to refine the identification of Sensual, Imaginational, and Emotional overexcitabilities at the elementary school level. Until then, we can only theorize as to what extent those characteristics contribute—or detract from—identification as gifted. I N S T R U M E N T M E A S U R E D A B R O W S K I A N G I F T E D C H I L D Q U A R T E R L Y • F A L L 2 0 0 4 • V O L 4 8 N O 4 3 3 9 at UNIV CALGARY LIBRARY on March 4, 2011 gcq.sagepub.com Downloaded from I N S T R U M E N T M E A S U R E D A B R O W S K I A N demonstrate academic achievement either on the achievement tests or on the ability test items that require academic achievement, then they may not be identified as gifted. Because it is generally accepted that an IQ test alone is not an adequate means for identifying individuals (Clark, 1997), most programs for educating the gifted rely on multiple instruments to screen and identify gifted students (Clark; Gallagher & Gallagher, 1994; Tuttle, Becker, & Sousa, 1988). The multiple instruments assess a combination of aptitude and achievement as evidenced by behaviors and products. Recommendation forms and checklists scrutinize personality characteristics and student behavior to find evidence of abilities and accomplishments that standardized tests do not measure. This study describes the creation and testing of an instrument for the identification of gifted children that is not tied to academic achievement. Instead, the instrument is tied to the roots of giftedness, to behaviors that are indicative of “an advanced and accelerated development of functions within the brain [that] may express itself in high levels of cognitive, affective, physical sensing, and/or intuitive abilities” (Clark, 1997, p. 26). The abilities mentioned by Clark overlap completely with the Dabrowskian personality characteristics known as overexcitabilities. Although numerous recommendation forms and checklists exist and are in use today to aid in the identification of gifted students, none exist that are grounded in Dabrowski’s (1964) Theory of Positive Disintegration, which has proven helpful in illuminating the nature of, and needs associated with, giftedness (Gallagher, 1986; Lind & Daniels, 1998; Mendaglio & Pyryt, 1996; Piechowski, 1997; Piechowski & Colangelo, 1984; Piechowski & Cunningham, 1985; Silverman, 1993). Therefore, it is justifiable to include specific constructs of the theory among a constellation of characteristics to be used when identifying gifted students. The thrust of this research is to create such an instrument for the identification and measurement of the Dabrowskian constructs known as overexcitabilities (OEs) in order to enhance the identification of giftedness in elementary-aged students. T h e D a b r o w s k i a n P e r s p e c t i v e The construct of giftedness examined in this study is based on the theory of the Polish psychiatrist and psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski. Developed from extensive clinical and biographical studies of artists, writers, saints, and gifted students, Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration offers a promising framework for examining the components and developmental dynamics of giftedness (Nelson, 1989; Piechowski & Cunningham, 1985; Silverman, 1993). The theory considers the genetic and biological roots of giftedness, as does Clark’s (1997) definition of giftedness used in this study: Giftedness is a biologically rooted concept that serves as a label for a high level of intelligence and indicates an advanced and accelerated development of functions within the brain. Such development may express itself in high levels of cognitive, affective, physical sensing, and/or intuitive abilities, such as academic aptitude, insight and innovation, creative behavior, leadership, personal and/or interpersonal skill, or visual and performing arts. (p. 26) The theory has strong implications for teaching and counseling because it puts personality characteristics into the perspective of the person’s lifespan. Other perspectives of giftedness tend to dwell on childhood and the education of bright children. Dabrowski, on the other hand, wanted to understand why some very bright and creative people attained higher levels of emotional development and selfactualization than others, and so he looked at the lifespans of gifted individuals. His theory explores the personal characteristics and events that are indicators of the potential for higher levels of development. One important element of Dabrowski’s theory that is especially relevant to the identification and assessment of giftedness from this new perspective is the construct of overexcitabilities. The term, translated from the Polish napobudliwosc, means to be superstimulated (Falk, Piechowski, & Lind, 1994). Overexcitability refers to an innate supersensitivity to stimuli in any of five different areas: Psychomotor, Sensual, Imaginational, Intellectual, and Emotional. The term overexcitabilities, unfortunately, is sometimes misconstrued to mean hyperactivity; it also carries with it the negative connotation of meaning “too much.” It denotes a strong psychic reaction that appears to exceed the stimuli or is stronger than is normally expected. An individual with strong overexcitabilities will experience life more richly and process it more complexly than others with less or no overexcitability and who are exposed to the same life experiences. However, Dabrowskian theory explains that, although strong psychic reactions can be potentially negative, resulting in neuroses and existential crises, they are part of the neces3 4 0 G I F T E D C H I L D Q U A R T E R L Y • F A L L 2 0 0 4 • V O L 4 8 N O 4 at UNIV CALGARY LIBRARY on March 4, 2011 gcq.sagepub.com Downloaded from I N S T R U M E N T M E A S U R E D A B R O W S K I A N sary conditions that can lead to positive disintegration, which is the developmental process of moving from lower to higher levels of emotional and moral development. There are several good reasons for looking at giftedness from the perspective of overexcitabilities. Intelligence is one facet of a personality, while overexcitabilities include five innate characteristics that, to a large degree, describe the nature of the person’s gifts and talents. Giftedness, after all, is more than an unusually high score on a test of intellectual ability. Gifted individuals are also renowned for their highly sensitive and emotional nature, their imaginations, and their high energy levels (Piechowski, 1997; Torrance, 1965; Webb, Meckstroth, & Tolan, 1982). Because giftedness is composed of a constellation of characteristics, rather than a single factor of generalized intelligence (Guilford, 1979), a Dabrowskian perspective on identification and assessment can be helpful to a field that has been challenged to develop an instrument capable of capturing the multifaceted characteristics of the gifted individual (Silverman, 1993). Care must be taken, however, so that OEs are not equated with related abilities; that is, Intellectual OE must not be equated with intelligence, and Imaginational OE must not be equated with creativity. Overexcitabilities are not abilities; rather, they are modes of experiencing the world (Piechowski & Colangelo, 1984). Overexcitabilities have been likened to filters, in that a person with a strong OE captures more of the stimulation in that area than would a person who does not have that OE and, thus, is not exceptionally sensitive to that type of stimulation (Piechowski & Cunningham, 1985). As a less abstract example, two people who observe an identical stimulus, such as an encounter between two classmates, will experience the stimulus differently. The p