Development of problem solving and divergent thinking skills in intellectually gifted children was examined through administration of experimental tasks to 233 second through sixth graders. Different patterns of development were observed: problem solving skills grew steadily from the second through the sixth grades; divergent thinking increased from second through fourth, with no significant increase thereafter. Of potentially greater importance was the fact that children in fifth and sixth grades demonstrated more intra-individual variability across tasks than children in the earlier grades. Implications for curricula to include more divergent thinking tasks were discussed.
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