Do we really want to avoid Denny's?: The perils of defying the crowd

Abstract

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Sternberg’s excellent paper proposing the WICS model for identifying gifted individuals. This model broadens the standard conception of giftedness and makes many helpful suggestions how to conceptualize and assess the relevant dimensions of giftedness. There is one area, however, where we would propose an alternate viewpoint. ‘In a sense, this essay is about how to avoid selecting the “Denny’s” of the world’, Sternberg writes (p. 5), in reference to a former gifted student who seemed primed for success—but then committed suicide. Our question is whether it really is best to try and avoid selecting the ‘Denny’s’.