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Contemporary Research
The Columbus Group definition of giftedness is considered within a wider framework of theories of self. Traditions of environmental influence on development, together with motivational drive, conceptualize the experience of children of high intellectual potential. It is argued that, as described in the definition, asynchrony represents this interaction, with implications for self-definition. This article analyzes archival data collected on 535 high IQ children (IQ >= 126) at the CHIP (Children of High Intellectual Potential) Foundation (Australia). The purpose was to identify patterns of behavior that could be interpreted as evidence of asynchronous development. Five such patterns were found related to home/school contexts. These were anxiety, self-critical, overly sensitive, easily upset and easily frustrated, with depression evident in adolescents. Although the analysis is limited and exploratory only, some further research directions are suggested.
In 1991 the Columbus Group, a group of parents, psychologists, and educators meeting in Columbus, Ohio, articulated a definition of giftedness as being
...asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable... (Morelock, 1996, p.8)
The evolution of this definition was described by Morelock (1996), and subsequently became the subject of the Point/Counterpoint published in the December 1997 issue of Roeper Review. The conflicting views expressed by Gagne and Morelock in that debate are timely. They have crystallized important matters of conceptualization and theory upon which the field of giftedness currently is built.
Morelock's 1996 article was prompted by the fact that we appear to have lost our way-the chaos of unsatisfactory definitions. These have been fed by a proliferation of multiplicities, be they of intelligence or of talent, and confused by the ebb and flow in meanings ascribed to gifted and to talent, with or without behaviors and/or development as an added option. The construct of intelligence has been refrained by grafting on the construct of [broadly based] creativity and the requirement of effort. It appears that the now hydra-headed beast is of indefinable identity. Practitioners are prone to hedge their bets when using the term gifted by "...mak[ing] sure that it is followed immediately by...