Developmental Study of Gifted Preschool Children and Measures of Psychosocial Giftedness.

A consistently remarkable relationship between role taking ability and prosocial behaviors was posited to support the theoretical construct of psychosocial giftedness. Role taking tasks were given to gifted 3 year olds (mean IQ = 134) in the fall and spring. During the same period observations were made of their prosocial behaviors-sharing, helping, reacting to distress, and physical affection. In the fall, IQ, rather than role taking ability, was the best predictor of prosocial behaviors for this sample. The relationship between IQ and role taking increased from fall to spring. However, neither IQ nor role taking ability were reliable predictors of prosocial behaviors in the spring. These findings suggest that psychosocial giftedness as posited, may develop somewhat independently of IQ and cognitive role taking, thus aiding the notion of gifted pluralism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]