Information Behavior of Gifted Children in the Pre-literate Stage – Qualitative Study

Iva Burešová^1, and Jana Marie Havigerová²

¹Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Arna Nováka, Brno, Czech Republic

²Department of Primary and Preprimary Education, University of Hradec Králové, Rokitanského, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

Cite this paper:
Iva Burešová and Jana Marie Havigerová. Information Behavior of Gifted Children in the Pre-literate Stage – Qualitative Study. American Journal of Educational Research. 2015; 3(2):159-165. doi: 10.12691/education-3-2-8

Abstract

The presented qualitative study is part of a broader research aim dealing with select contexts of everyday information behavior of exceptionally gifted children at the pre-literate age. The primary goal of this study was to examine if and how information behavior of exceptionally gifted pre-literate children is reflected in the manner and formulation of their questions, and whether this behavior differs from the behavior of children with average intellectual abilities. The following aim was subsequently based on the assumption that the giftedness of children of this age is reflected in the way they process information. In order to meet the pre-literacy condition, participants were chosen from children starting their first year of school (aged 5 to 7). The research sample consisted of 12 participants (6 in the experimental group and 6 in the control group). Questions generated by both groups, as a response to the selected neutral stimulus, were examined and compared by frequency and content analysis. The subjective evaluation of the information behavior was compared from the point of view of the children and their parents as well. The results indicate that information behavior of the exceptionally gifted children is different in specific directions from information seeking behavior of children with average intellectual abilities.

Keywords:
information behavior giftedness children question skill content analysis

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