Thinking styles and the gifted

This article considers the interaction between styles of thinking and giftedness. In particular, it is argued that decisions regarding identification, instruction and programming need to take into account not only the abilities of the gifted, but their styles of thinking. The article opens with an introduction to some of the main issues of gifted education, and then is divided into four major parts. First, the article presents the theory of mental self‐government, a theory of thinking styles and their relations to giftedness. Secondly, some data are presented testing the theory on various groups of students. Third, the article shows how thinking styles are relevant to decisions regarding identification, instruction and programming. Fourth and finally, the article closes with some conclusions about thinking styles and the gifted.