jegys Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists 2149-360X Genç Bilge Yayıncılık 10.17478/jegys.808796 Psychology Psikoloji Comparison of gifted and non-gifted students’ executive functions and high capabilities https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5570-9872 Rocha Alberto Centro de Investigação em Educação - Instituto de Educação - Universidade do Minho https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0651-7014 Almeida Leandro University of Minho Perales Ramón University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) 12 15 2020 8 4 1397 1409 08 10 2020 11 17 2020 Copyright © 2013, Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists 2013 Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists

In recent years, the analysis of the relationship between cognitive skills and student learning has focused mainly on research into the impact of executive functions on academic performance and success. This study seeks to compare the cognitive performance of gifted or high-capacity students to students with a typical development in the performance of psychological tests aimed at the evaluation of executive functions. Two groups of students were considered (gifted and regular) with the intention of matching them in terms of school level and age (ages included are 10-15). The results indicate marginally significant differences in the cognitive flexibility function and statistically significant differences in working memory, as well as in the higher cognitive functions of problem solving and reasoning, with no statistically significant differences in the tests that evaluate inhibitory control and planning. These data suggest that psychological tests centred on the assessment of cognitive functions may complement the more traditional use of IQ tests for signalling and evaluating students with traits of giftedness.

 Intelligence Executive Functions Giftedness Academic Performance Ackerman, D. J., & Friedman-Krauss, A. H. (2017). Preschoolers’ Executive Function: Importance, Contributors, Research Needs and Assessment Options. ETS Research Report Series, 2017(1), 1-24. doi: 10.1002/ets2.12148 Alnæs, D., Kaufmann, T., Doan, N. T., Córdova-Palomera, A., Wang, Y., Bettella, F., … Westlye, L. T. (2018). Association of Heritable Cognitive Ability and Psychopathology with White Matter Properties in Children and Adolescents. JAMA Psychiatry, 75(3), 287-295. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.4277 Almeida, L. S., & Lemos, G. (2015). Bateria de Provas de Raciocínio. Braga: CERPSI. Alvarez, J. A., & Emory, E. (2006). Executive function and the frontal lobes: A meta-analytic review. Neuropsychology Review, 16(1), 17–42. doi:10.1007/ s11065-006-9002-x. Arffa, S. (2007). The relationship of intelligence to executive function and non-executive function measures in a sample of average, above average, and gifted youth. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 22(8), 969-978. doi: 10.1016/j.acn.2007.08.001 Baltaci, S. (2016). Examination Of Gifted Students’ Probability Problem Solving Process In Terms Of Mathematical Thinking. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Technology, 4(4), 18-35. Barbey, A. K. (2018). Network neuroscience theory of human intelligence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(1), 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2017.10.001 Benedek, M., Jauk, E., Sommer, M., Arendasy, M., & Neubauer, A.C. (2014). Intelligence, creativity, and cognitive control: the common and differential involvement of executive functions in intelligence and creativity. Intelligence, 46, 73-83. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2014.05.007 Benson, J. E., Sabbagh, M. A., Carlson, S. M., & Zelazo, P. D. (2012). Individual Differences in Executive Functioning Predict Preschoolers' Improvement from Theory-of-Mind Training. Developmental Psychology, 49(9), 1615-1627. doi: 10.1037/a0031056 Berg, D. H, & McDonald, P. A. (2018). Differences in mathematical reasoning between typically achieving and gifted children. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 281-291. doi: 10.1080/20445911.2018.1457034 Bianco, M., & Leech, N. L. (2010). Twice-Exceptional Learners: Effects of Teacher Preparation and Disability Labels on Gifted Referrals. Teacher Education and Special Education, 33(4), 319-334. doi: 10.1177/0888406409356392. Blair, C. (2006). How similar are fluid cognition and general intelligence? A developmental neuroscience perspective on fluid cognition as an aspect of human cognitive ability. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(02), 109-160. doi:10.1017/s0140525x06009034 Buttelmann, F., & Karbach, J. (2017). Development and plasticity of cognitive flexibility in early and middle childhood. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(1040), 1-6. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01040 Campos, M. C., Silva, M. L., Florêncio, N. C., & Paula, J. J. (2016). Confiabilidade do Teste dos Cinco Dígitos em adultos brasileiros (Reliability of the Five Digit Test in Brazilian Adults). Jornal brasileiro de psiquiatria, 65(2), 135-139. doi: 10.1590/0047-2085000000114 Cattell, R. B. (1987). Intelligence: Its structure, growth and action. Amsterdam: North Holland. Cervantes, C. J. R., Sierra, M. D. V., Borges, E. V., & Avelar, R. S. (2018). Relación entre la funciones ejecutivas y la alta capacidad intelectual en alumnos escolares (Relationship between executive functions and high intellectual capacity in school students). Revista Sobredotação, 15(2), 113-130. Chevalier, N., & Blaye, A. (2016). Metacognitive Monitoring of Executive Control Engagement During Childhood. Child Development, 87(4), 1264-1276. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12537 Chevalier, N., Kurth, S., Doucette, M. R., Wiseheart, M., Deoni, S. C. L., Dean, D. C., … LeBourgeois, M. K. (2015). Myelination Is Associated with Processing Speed in Early Childhood: Preliminary Insights. PLOS ONE, 10(10),1-14. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139897 Clark, C. A. C., Pritchard, V. E., & Woodward, L. J. (2010). Preschool executive functioning abilities predict early mathematics achievement. Developmental Psychology, 46(5), 1176–1191. doi:10.1037/a0019672 Collins, A., & Koechlin, E. (2012) Reasoning, Learning, and Creativity: Frontal Lobe Function and Human Decision-Making. PLoS Biology 10(3), 1-16. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001293 Corso, H. V., Sperb, T. M., de Jou, G. I., & Salles, J. F. (2013). Metacognição e funções executivas: relações entre os conceitos e implicações para a aprendizagem (Metacognition and executive functions: relationships between concepts and implications for learning). Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 29(1), 21-29. doi: 10.1590/S0102-37722013000100004 Cruz, V. (2007). O Cognitive Assessment System como instrumento de avaliação psicológica. PSIC - Revista de Psicologia da Vetor Editora, 8(1), 31-40. Dai, X., Müller, H.G., Wang, J.L., & Deoni, S. C. L. (2018). Age-dynamic networks and functional correlation for early white matter myelination. Brain Structure and Function, 224(2), 535-551. doi:10.1007/s00429-018-1785-z Das, J. P., Naglieri, J. A. & Kirby, J. R. (1994). Assessment of cognitive processes: The P.A.S.S. theory of intelligence. Toronto: Allyn and Bacon. De Smedt, B., Janssen, R., Bouwens, K., Verschaffell, L., Boets, B., & Ghesquiere, P. (2009). Working memory and individual differences in mathematics achievement: A longitudinal study from first grade to second grade. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 103(2), 186–201. Debatin, T., Harder, B., & Ziegler, A. (2019). Does fluid intelligence facilitate the learning of English as a foreign language? – A longitudinal latent growth curve analysis. Learning and Individual Differences, 70, 121-129. doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2019.01.009 Demetriou, A., Kazi, S., Spanoudis, G., & Makris, N. (2019). Predicting school performance from cognitive ability, self-representation, and personality from primary school to senior high school. Intelligence, 76(101381), 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2019.101381 Desco, M., Navas-Sanche, F. J., Sanchez-González, J., Reig, S., Robles, O., Franco, C., Guzmán-De-Villoria, J. A., ... Arango, C. (2011). Mathematically gifted adolescents use more extensive and more bilateral areas of the fronto-parietal network than controls during executive functioning and fluid reasoning tasks. NeuroImage, 57, 281-292. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.03.063 Diamond, A. (2013). Executive Functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, pp. 135-168. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750 Duan, X., & Shi, J. (2011). Intelligence does not correlate with inhibitory ability at every age. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 12, 3-8. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.02.003 Dunst, B., Benedek, M., Jauk, E., Bergner, S., Koschutnig, K., Sommer, M., ... Neubauer A. C. (2014). Neural efficiency as a function of task demands. Intelligence, 42, 22-30. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2013.09.005 Ferreira, C., & Rocha, A. M. (2006). d2: Teste de Atenção. Lisboa: Cegoc. Finch, M. E. H., Neumeister, K. L. S., Burney, V. H., & Cook, A. L. (2014). The Relationship of Cognitive and Executive Functioning with Achievement in Gifted Kindergarten Children. Gifted Child Quarterly, 58(3), 167-182. doi: 10.1177/0016986214534889 Fiske, A., & Holmboe, K. (2019). Neural substrates of early executive function development. Developmental Review, 52, 42-62. doi: 10.1016/j.dr.2019.100866. Friedman, N. P., Miyake, A., Corley, R. P., Young, S. E., DeFries, J. C., & Hewitt, J. K. (2006). Not all executive functions are related to intelligence. Psychological Science, 17(2), 172-179. doi 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01681.x Gagné, F. (2018). Desenvolvendo Talento Académico: MDDT – princípios de base e melhores práticas (Developing Academic Talent: MDDT - basic principles and best practices). In L. S. Almeida & A. Rocha (Eds.), Sobredotação: Uma responsabilidade coletiva (pp.197- 226). Braga: CERPSI. García-Perales, R., & Almeida, L. S. (2019). Programa de enriquecimiento para alumnado con alta capacidad: Efectos positivos para el currículum (Enrichment program for students with high capacity: Positive effects for the curriculum). Comunicar, 60(XXVII), 39-48. doi: 10.3916/c60-2019-04. Geary, D. C. (2013). Early foundations for mathematics learning and their relations to learning disabilities. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 23-27. doi: 10.1177/0963721412469398 Goldstein, S., Naglieri, J. A., Princiotta, D., & Otero, T. M. (2013). Introduction: A History of Executive Functioning as a Theoretical and Clinical Construct. In S. Goldstein & J. A. Naglieri (Eds.), Handbook of executive functioning (p. 3-12). New York: Springer Science + Business Media. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4614-8106-5_1 Gotlieb, R., Hyde, E., Immordino-Yang, M. H,. & Kaufman, S. B. (2016). Cultivating the social-emotional imagination in gifted education: Insights from educational neuroscience. Annals of the New York Academy Sciences, 1377(1), 22-31. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13165. Goriounova, N. A., Mansvelder, H. D. (2019). Genes, cells and brain areas of intelligence. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13(44), 1-14. doi:0.3389/fnhum.2019.00044 Harder, B., O´Reilly, C., & Debatin, T. (2018). Intelligence, Educational and Learning Capital, and Domain Impact Level of Activities as Predictors of School Achievement. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 41(4) 327–347. doi: 10.1177/0162353218799440 Iglesias-Sarmiento, V., & Deaño, M. (2011). Cognitive Processing and Mathematical Achievement: A Study with Schoolchildren between Fourth and Sixth Grade of Primary Education. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(6), 570–583. doi: 10.1177/0022219411400749 Kim, B., & K. Hays. (2005). The evolution of the intellectual partnership with a cognitive tool in inquirybased astronomy laboratory. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, Taipei, Taiwan, May-June. Kornmann, J., Zettler, I., Kammerer, Y., Gerjets, P., & Trautwein, U. (2015). What characterizes children nominated as gifted by teachers? A closer consideration of working memory and intelligence. High Ability Studies, 26(1), 75–92. doi:10.1080/13598139.2015.1033513 Kroesbergen, E. H., Van Luit, J. E. H., & Naglieri, J. A. (2003). Mathematical learning difficulties and PASS cognitive processes. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36(6), 574–582. doi: 10.1177/00222194030360060801 Krumm, G., Arán, V., & Gutierrez, M. (2018). The contribution of executive functions to creativity in children: What is the role of crystallized and fluid intelligence? Thinking Skills and Creativity, 29, 185-195. doi: 10.1016/j.tsc.2018.07.006 Lafavor, T. (2017). Predictors of Academic Success in 9- to 11-Year-Old Homeless Children. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 38(9), 1-29. doi: 10.1177/0272431616678989 Lee, K. H., Choi, Y. Y., Gray, J. R., Cho, S. H., Chae, J. H., Lee, S., & Kim, K. (2006). Neural correlates of superior intelligence: Stronger recruitment of posterior parietal cortex. NeuroImage, 29(2), 578-86. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.07.036 Lemos, G., & Almeida, L. S. (2015). Bateria de Aptidões Cognitivas (Battery of Cognitive Skills). Braga: Edição de autor. Lemos, G., & Almeida, L. S. (2019). Compreender, raciocinar e resolver problemas: Novo instrumento de avaliação cognitive (Understand, reason and solve problems: New cognitive assessment tool). Análise Psicológica, 2(XXXVII): 119-133. doi: 10.14417/ap.1583 Lemos, G., Almeida, L. S., Guisande, M. A., & Primi, R. (2008). Inteligência e rendi- mento escolar: Análise da sua relação ao longo da escolaridade (Intelligence and school performance: Analysis of its relationship to the long-term schooling). Revista Portuguesa de Educação, 21, 83-99. Léon, M. I. G. (2020). Development of Giftedness During Early Childhood. Papeles del Psicólogo/Psychologist Papers, 41(2), 147-158. Liu, Q., Zhu, X., Ziegler, A. & Shi, J. (2015). The effects of inhibitory control training for preschoolers on reasoning ability and neural activity. Scientific Reports. doi:10.1038/srep14200 Lunt, L., Bramham, J., Morris, R. G., Bullock, P. R., Selway, R. P., Xenitidis, K., & David, A. S. (2011). Prefrontal cortex dysfunction and “Jumping to Conclusions”: Bias or deficit? Journal of Neuropsychology, 6(1), 65-78. doi:10.1111/j.1748-6653.2011.02005.x Lyons, K. E., & Zelazo, P. D. (2011). Monitoring, Metacognition, and Executive Function: Elucidating the Role of Self-Reflection in the Development of Self-Regulation. In J. Benson (Ed.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior (pp. 379-412). Burlington: Academic Press. Mann, T. D., Hund, A. M., Hesson-McInnis, M. S., & Roman, Z. J. (2017). Pathways to school readiness: Executive functioning predicts academic and social-emotional aspects of school readiness. Mind, Brain, and Education, 11(1), 21-31. doi:10.1111/mbe.12134 Marcovitch, S., Jacques, S., Boseovski, J. J., & Zelazo, P. D. (2008). Self-Reflection and the Cognitive Control of Behavior: Implications for Learning. Mind, Brain & Education, 2(3), 136-141. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-228X.2008.00044.x McClelland, M. M., Cameron, C. E., Duncan, R., Bowles, R. P., Acock, A. C., Miao, A., & Pratt, M. E. (2014). Predictors of early growth in academic achievement: the head-toes-knees-shoulders task. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(599), 1-14. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00599 Miller, E. K., & Wallis, J. D. (2009). Executive Function and Higher-Order Cognition: Definition and Neural Substrates. Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, 4, 99-104. doi:10.1016/b978-008045046-9.00418-6 Monette, S., Bigras, M., & Guay, M.-C. (2011). The role of the executive functions in school achievement at the end of Grade 1. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 109(2), 158-173. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2011.01.008 Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D., Dickson, N., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H., … Caspi, A. (2011). A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 2693-2698.doi:10.1073/pnas.1010076108 Mós, A. S. C. (2016). Propriedades Psicométricas da Figura Complexa de Rey numa Amostra de Adultos da População Portuguesa (Dissertação de mestrado) (Psychometric Properties of the Rey Complex Figure in a Sample of Adults from the Portuguese Population (Master's Dissertation). Retrieved from ISMT Repository). Retirado do Repositório ISMT. (http://repositorio.ismt.pt/jspui/handle/123456789/604) Munõz, M. M. P., & Filippetti, V. A. (2019). Children's Conceptions of Intelligence. What is the role of Executive Functions and Self-regulation? Propósitos y Representaciones, 7(2), 269-303. doi: 10.20511/pyr2019.v7n2.281 Naglieri, J. A. & Das, J. P. (1997). Cognitive Assessment System. Administration and Scoring Manual. Itasca, Illinois: Riverside Publishing. Naglieri, J. A., & Das, J. P. (2005). Planning, attention, simultaneous, successive (PASS) theory: A revision of the concept of intelligence. In D. P. Flanagan & P. L. Harrison (Eds.), Contemporary intellectual assessment (2nd ed., pp. 136–182). New York, NY: Guilford. Naglieri, J. A., & Gottling, S. H. (1997). Mathematics instruction and PASS cognitive processes: An intervention study. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30, 513– 520 Naglieri, J. A., & Johnson, D. (2000). Effectiveness of a cognitive strategy intervention in improving arithmetic computation based on the PASS theory. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33, 591–597. Oliveira, A. P. A., & Nascimento, E. (2014). Construção de uma Escala para Avaliação do Planejamento Cognitivo (Construction of a Cognitive Planning Assessment Scale). Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 27(2), 209-218. doi: 10.1590/1678-7153.201427201. Renzulli, J. S. (2012). Reexamining the Role of Gifted Education and Talent Development for the 21st Century: A Four-Part Theoretical Approach. Gifted Child Quarterly, 56(3), 150-159. doi. 10.1177/0016986212444901 Rocha, A. M., & Coelho, M. H. (1998). Teste de Cópia de Figura Complexa de Rey. Lisboa: Cegoc. Rodríguez, C., Jiménez, J. E., Díaz, A., García, E., Martín, R., & Hernández, S. (2012). Datos normativos para el Test de los Cinco Dígitos: desarrollo evolutivo de la flexibilidad en Educación Primaria (Normative data for the Five Digits Test: evolutionary development of flexibility in Primary Education). European Journal of Education and Psychology, 5(1), 27-38. doi: 10.1989/ejep.v5i1.88 Rodríguez-Naveiras, E., Verche, E., Hernández-Lastiri, P., Montero, R., & Borges, A., (2019). Differences in working memory between gifted or talented students and community samples: A meta-analysis. Psicothema, 31(3), 255-262. doi: 10.7334/psicothema2019.18 Ropovik, I. (2014). Do executive functions predict the ability to learn problem-solving principles? Intelligence, 44, 64–74. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2014.03.002 Roth, B., Becker, N., Romeyke, S., Schäfer, S., Domnick, F., & Spinath, F. M. (2015). Intelligence and school grades: A meta-analysis. Intelligence, 53, 118-137. doi:10.1016/j.intell.2015.09.002 Sak, U. (2020). Giftedness in Adolescence. The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development, 1, 1-11. doi: 10.1002/9781119171492.wecad380 Sastre-Ribas, S., & Viana-Sáenz, L. (2016). Funciones ejecutivas y alta capacidade intellectual (Executive functions and high intellectual capacity). Neurodesarrollo, 6(1), 565-571. Schnack, H. G., Haren, N. E. M., Brouwer, R. M., Evans, A., Durston, S., Boomsma, D. I., ... Pol, H. (2015) Changes in thickness and surface area of the human cortex and their relationship with intelligence. Cerebral Cortex, 25(6), 1608-1617. doi.: 10.1093/cercor/bht357 Sedó, M. (2007). FDT: Test de Los Cinco Digitos (FDT: Five Digits Test). Manual. Madrid: TEA Ediciones. Shi, J., Tao, T., Chen, W., Cheng, L., Wang, L., & Zhang, X. (2013). Sustained attention in intellectually gifted children assessed using a continuous performance test. PloS One, 8(2), 1-8. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057417. Simões, M., Rocha, A. M., & Ferreira, C. (2003). WISC-III: Escala de Inteligência de Weschler para Crianças – 3ª Edição (WISC-III: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Crianças - 3rd Edition). Lisboa: Cegoc. Smedsrud, J. (2020). Explaining the Variations of Definitions in Gifted Education. Nordic Studies in Education, 40(1), 79-97. Soares, D. L., Lemos, G. C., Primi, R., & Almeida, L. S. (2015). The relationship between intelligence and academic achievement throughout middle school: The role of students' prior academic performance. Learning and Individual Differences, 41, 73-78. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2015.02.005 Solé‐Casals, J., Serra-Grabulosa, J. M., Romero-Garcia, R., Vilaseca, G., Adan, A., Vilaró, N., ... Bullmore, E. T. (2019). Structural brain network of gifted children has a more integrated and versatile topology. Brain Structure and Function, 224, 2373–2383. doi: 10.1007/s00429-019-01914-9. Sternberg, R. J. (2005). Successful intelligence: A model for testing intelligence beyond IQ tests. European Journal of Education and Psychology, 8, 76-84. doi: 10.1016/j.ejeps.2015.09.004 Vaivre-Douret, L. (2011). Developmental and cognitive characteristics of high-level potentialities (highly gifted) children. International Journal of Pediatrics, 420297, 1687-9740. doi: 10.1155/2011/420297. Vanbinst, K., Ghesquière, P., & De Smedt, B. (2014). Arithmetic strategy development and its domain-specific and domain-general cognitive correlates: a longitudinal study in children with persistent mathematical learning difficulties. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35(11), 3001-3013. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2014.06.023 Visu-Petra, L., Cheie, L., Benga, O., & Miclea, M. (2011). Cognitive control goes to school: The impact of executive functions on academic performance. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 11, 240-244. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.01.069 Viterbori, P., Usai, M. C., Traverso, L., & De Franchis, V. (2015). How preschool executive functioning predicts several aspects of math achievement in Grades 1 and 3: A longitudinal study. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 140, 38-55. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2015.06.014 Yang, Y., Shields, G. S., Guo, C., & Liu, Y. (2018). Executive function performance in obesity and overweight individuals: A meta-analysis and review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 84, 225–244.doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.11.020 Zelazo, P. D., Blair, C. B., & Willoughby, M. T. (2016). Executive Function: Implications for Education (NCER 2017-2000). Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Ziegler, A., Debatin, T., & Stoeger, H. (2019). Learning resources and talent development from a systemic point of view. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1445, 39-51. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14018 Zimmerman, B. J. (2008). Investigating Self-Regulation and Motivation: Historical Background, Methodological Developments, and Future Prospects. American Educational Research Journal, 45(1), 166-183. doi:10.3102/0002831207312909