Creativity Research Journal 1999, Vol. 12, NO. 2, 161-164 Copyright 1999 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Inc. A Longitudinal Study of Exceptional Giftedness and Creativity Mark A. Runco California State University, Fullerton ABSTRACT: This article summarizes a longitudinal study of exceptionally gifted boys, with particular em- phasis on ,findings involving their creative potential. The longitudinal investigation began 2 decades ago with 2 exceptionallygzftedsamples. Thesesamples rep- resented equivalent levels of ability but diferent areas or domains of talent. One was exceptionally gifted in math and science, the other a high-IQ group (mean IQ = 155). Data were collected from the bo,vs and their parents. The present article summarizes group dgfer- ences in expectations of independence, California Psy- chological Invento y (CPI; Gough, 1975) scales, and divergent thinking (DT) test scores. Relations among predictors are also discussed, as are relations with in- dexes of creative potential. In addition to group differ- ences, notablejindings include the strong relation be- tween mothers' expectations for their sons' independence und the DTofthe sons and the highflexi- bility scores of the exceptionall,, gifted samples on the CPI. Just about two decades ago, Robert Albert (1980) ini- tiated a longitudinal study of exceptionally gifted boys. In simplest terms, this study aimed to compare different expressions and different levels of giftedness. The two primary samples represented an exceptionally high-IQ group (IQs > 150) and an equally exceptional group whose talents were in mathematics and science. Albert (1978, 1980, 1993) hypothesized that ex- ceptional talents depend on family background. There are other influences, of course, but "all else being A number of specific empirical papers have been published from the longitudinal study, but the project is far from completion. Follow-up data are still being analyzed-and more may be collected. The first data were collected when the boys were 12 or 13 years of age. The math-science group was a subsample from the Johns Hopkins University Study of Mathe- matically Precocious Youth. As previously noted, the exceptionally high-IQ group was just that: Each par- ticipant had an IQ of 150 or higher. Data were ob- tained from other samples for comparative purposes, including samples of nominally gifted children and nongifted children. Other norms, especially for the parents, were available in published sources. Some of the data represented creative skills and achievements. The participants received the Wallach and Kogan (1965) battery of divergent thinking (DT) tasks, for example, as well as the Biographical Inventory of Creativity (Schaefer, 1971). Creative talents were also indicated by the Creativity Index of the Califor- nia Psychological Inventory (CPI; Gough, 1975). This article presents an overview of the key findings regarding the creativity of the participants. Importantly, creativity was conceived as cognitive and extracognitive. It was not merely intellectual abil- ity, then, nor entirely strategic, nor guaranteed by par- ticular personality traits. As Albert and Runco (1989) put it, creativity is a complex. This conception parallels MacKinnon's (1965) conception of creativity as a syn- drome. For detailed discussions of the role of creativity in giftedness, see Albert and Runco (1986), Milgram (in press), or Renzulli (1978). - equal, family variables can make the difference be- tween a fulfilled promise and dismal failure" (Runco Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to Mark A. & in press). With this in mind' data were cO1- Runco, CSUFEC 105, P.O. Box 6868, California State University, lected from 12 to 13-year-oId boys as well as their Fullerton, Fullerton, CA 928346868. E-mail: runco@exchange. mothers and fathers. Fullerton.edu. Action Editor: Jonathan Plucker. Creativity Research Journal 161