title: Attentional switching in intellectually gifted and average children: effects on performance and ERP.
abstract: The study compared the performance and brain activity of children who were intellectually gifted or of average intelligence. 13 intellectually gifted (4 girls, 9 boys; M age = 12.0 yr., SD = 0.2) and 13 average children (5 girls, 8 boys; M age = 11.9 yr., SD = 0.3) participated in a task-switching experiment. The children performed a task repeatedly (single-trial blocks) or switched between two different tasks (mixed-trial blocks). Intellectually gifted children performed quicker than the average group for both mixed and single-trial blocks. The electroencephalography P300 amplitude was larger in the mixed compared to the single-trial condition, but this effect was observed only in the gifted children. The results support the notion that gifted children are characterized by a faster maturation that leads to an 'adult-like' brain activity.
authors.forename: Xiaoju
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Jiannong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002672:Child, Gifted; D004569:Electroencephalography; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time