Giftedness problem research in Psychological Institute: conceptual background and modernity

Abstract

Background. The article is devoted to the 110th anniversary of the founding of the Psychological Institute in Moscow. The main topics of discussions on the problems of giftedness at the beginning of the 20th century are considered in the context of modern psychology. 

Objective. The article has its purpose to show the persisting relevance of the conceptual ideas about giftedness formed in the initial period of its scientific study and their development in theoretical and experimental research in the Psychological Institute over the late 20th and early 21st centuries. 

Results. Analysis of the debates on the problems of giftedness at the first Russian psychological congresses and publications by G.I. Chelpanov, P.P. Blonsky, L.S. Vygotsky, V.M. Ekzemplyarsky demonstrates that their statements about the complexity and originality of the manifestations and development of giftedness continue to be the attention focus of psychologists and educators. The development of these ideas can be traced in the differential psychology of B.M. Teplov, in the giftedness concepts of N.S. Leites and A.M. Matyushkin. The research results of the department of psychology of giftedness at PI RAO over the last five years keep expanding the ideas about giftedness proposed by its first researchers: on the integrity and complexity of the mental giftedness phenomenon, on identification and development of gifted children, on developmental education technologies for children with different types of giftedness and methods of their psychological and pedagogical support, on the telic theoretical and practical training of teachers for gifted children. 

Conclusion. The approach to the problem of giftedness, proposed in the works of G.I. Chelpanov and the first researchers of the Psychological Institute, preserved and received its further development, despite persecution of the scientists, obstacles, and prohibitions on their works. The perspectiveness of most of these ideas has been proven in more recent research on ability, giftedness, thinking, and creativity, including work carried out in the 21st century.

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