ABSTRACT
Multiple-case studies, comparing the educational and psychological development of a number of young people, such as Roe’s retrospective studies of the lives of eminent biologists, physicists and anthropologists, (Roe, 1951a, 1951b, 1953) are rare indeed. Furthermore, the research on extremely gifted students has generally concentrated on the children’s intellective and academic characteristics rather than tracing their overall development within a social and academic setting. Little attempt has been made to understand or analyse the influences of upbringing or education on the child’s personal or intellective growth.
