Talented Teenagers: The Roots of Success and Failure

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Kevin Rathunde, Samuel Whalen

Cambridge University Press, 1997 - Education - 307 pages

Talented Teenagers is a fascinating and absorbing examination of what makes adolescents tick: what roles personality traits, family interactions, education, and the social environment play in a young person's motivation to develop his or her talent. Vivid descriptions in the students' own words bring the material to life. Parents, teachers, psychologists, and counselors will find in these pages concrete information abou the conditions that foster the cultivation of mental abilities in adolescence, for both the gifted and the average student.

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• Talented teens: 20
• What is talent?: 21
• How the study was conducted Methods and procedures: 40
• What are talented teenagers like?: 64
• How talented teenagers live: 84
• The development of talent: 101
• Fields and domains of talent in adolescence: 103
• The experience of talent: 125
• How families influence the development of talent: 152
• Schools teachers and talent development: 177
• The cultivation of talent: 197
• Commitment to talent and its correlates: 199
• Cultivating talent throughout life: 222
• What have we learned?: 242
• Appendixes: 263
• References: 287
• Index: 299

About the author

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced "ME-high CHICK-sent-me-high-ee) is a professor and former chairman of the Department of English at the University of Chicago. His writings have focused on models of enjoyment and how various people access their creative potential. The idea of creative potential, which Csikszentmihalyi terms "flow" has become increasingly popular in the public sector. His 1993 book, Flow, inspired Jimmy Johnson then coach of the World Champion Dallas Cowboys, and was the subject of a feature story during that year's Super Bowl television broadcast. His ideas have also been touted by President Clinton, who called Csikszentmihalyi one of his favorite authors, Newt Gingrich, who put his work on the reading list for a political planning committee, and corporations and cultural institutions, such as Volvo in Sweden and the Chicago Park District. He has published articles in a variety of magazines, including Psychology Today, The New York Times, Omni, and Wired and has made appearances on television in the U.S. and Europe. Csikszentmihalyi currently serves on boards and commissions for the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education, and the Social Science Research Council. He has held visiting professorships at universities in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Italy, and Finland. He received the1990 NRPA National Research (Roosevelt) Award, in addition to two Senior Fulbright Fellowships. Besides Flow, he has also written Beyond Boredom and Anxiety and Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, in which he applies his "flow" theory to various inventors, scientists, and artists to determine how and why they achieve "flow."

Bibliographic information

• Title: Talented Teenagers: The Roots of Success and Failure; Talented Teenagers: The Roots of Success and Failure, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Authors: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Kevin Rathunde, Samuel Whalen
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1997
• ISBN: 0521574633, 9780521574631
• Length: 307 pages
• Subjects: Education / Special Education / Gifted; Family & Relationships / Children with Special Needs; Psychology / Developmental / Adolescent; Psychology / Developmental / Child; Psychology / Developmental / General