Abstract
Human reactions to words contain both meaning and feelings. Cognitive meaning is conditioned by affective contexts. The impact of a videotaped-based intervention on preservice teachers' semantic reactions to the concept of gifted students was investigated. Prior research with the same sample showed that nearly 50% of the students in an identified gifted population felt “doomed” to nonsuccess because of their teachers' preconceptions. Research methods used in the present study included focus-group-generated tapes of both achieving and underachieving gifted students; semantic differential scales on the evauluative, potency, and activity dimensions; and posttesting of participants' attitudes and perceptions.