Studying the mind of the gifted: Eunsook Hong, Guest Editor

This introductory essay is provided in an effort to promote cognitive research of the gifted, with an awareness that a successful marriage between giftedness and other fields is imperative for further understanding of the gifted mind. Indicating that only small progress has been made in the cognitive research of the gifted, the author presents research approaches that integrate some of the resources from various disciplines, such as experimental methods, approaches to assessing knowledge structures, use of biographical information, systematic interviews and observation, questionnaire approach, and naturalistic and other approaches. Some of the research findings on expert and gifted cognitions are also presented under the headings of knowledge base and representations, cognitive efficiency, cognitive strategies, and metacognition/self‐regulated learning. Various views of research approaches in the gifted area, educational and practical relevance of the cognitive studies of the gifted, implications for future research, as well as the articles appearing in this special section, are summarized.