Exceptional intellectual performance: a neo‐Piagetian perspective

Abstract

The conceptual level, working memory capacity and domain‐specific skills of two girls (aged 7 and 11 years old) and two boys (aged 9 and 10 years old) who displayed exceptional intellectual performance were investigated from Case's neo‐Piagetian theoretical perspective. Five measures of conceptual level and two measures of working memory capacity were administered. Data on domain‐specific skills were obtained from the Stanford–Binet intelligence scale: fourth edition (SB IV), Woodcock–Johnson tests of achievement (WJ‐ACH) and qualitative analyses of responses to the conceptual measures in the narrative and spatial domains. The results showed age‐related performance on the conceptual measures; congruence between performance on the conceptual and working memory measures; and performance on the SB IV and WJ‐ACH that greatly exceeded performance on the conceptual measures. These results are consistent with the results of studies on gifted children from the neo‐Piagetian theoretical perspective.