Intelligence, Handedness, and Cerebral Hemispheric Preference in Gifted Adolescents

Learning preferences: A comparison of gifted and above‐average middle grades students in small schools

“…R esearch into the learning style differences between gifted and average students has revealed that gifted students do have distinct learning styles which differentiate them from nongifted students (Cage, 1982). Researchers have reported that gifted differ in persistence, toleration of presence of sound, and preference for learning alone (Griggs and Price, 1982); that the gifted prefer to integrate through both hemispheres (Aliotti, 1981), and that the gifted children differ significantly in their preferences for independent study and discussion (Stewart, 1979). These researchers also reported that average students differed in morality preferences and teacher dependency (Griggs and Price, 1982), and preferences for lecture and projects (Stewart, 1979).…”

“…However, one of these studies was limited to junior high students from a suburban Long Island school district (Griggs and Price, 1982), another investigated difference among gifted adolescents (Aliotti, 1981), while the third focused on fourth, fifth and sixth grade children from Connecticut and New York schools (Stewart, 1979). As yet, no research has been found which substantiates the above findings for children at middle school level (sixth, seventh, and eighth) in rural, midwestern areas which was the intent of this study.…”

Inferred Hemispheric Thinking Style, Gender, and Academic Major among United Arab Emirates College Students

“…Soliman (1989) investigated learning and thinking styles among 400 Kuwaiti college students and noted men scored higher than women on items associated with the inferred right-and left-hemisphere styles, while the latter scored higher than the former on items inferred to represent an integrated style. Aliotti (1981) in examining the learning and thinking styles of 40 gifted adolescents ~rovided evidence that the gifted boys tended to prefer more activities reflective of the left-hemisphere style and girls tended to prefer more integrative activities. Moreover, Al-Sabaty and Davis (1989), with 109 college students, reported absence of gender differences in thinking styles measured by Your Style of Learning and Thinking.…”

Lateralization in gifted children

“…Torrance and Mourad (1979) found that bright graduate students who scored highest on tests of creativity tended to demonstrate right and integrated types of learning styles. Aliotti (1981) conducted a similar study with gifted adolescents and found that they preferred an integrated learning style rather than either a right-or left-hemisphere style. Although these studies are not typical of research on hemispheric asymmetry or lateralization, they nonetheless infer that gifted individuals may differ from the average person in some aspects of hemispheric processing.…”