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Inconsistent performance by gifted students has been a source of frustration for both parents and educators for decades. Several studies on gifted underachievement point to a connection between student learning styles and classroom performance. This study examined the learning styles of gifted middle school students, student perceptions of the classroom environment, and possible connections between learning style, classroom environment, and achievement levels. Eighty gifted students from grades 6, 7, and 8 were administered the Learning Style Inventory (LSI) to identify student learning style preferences. They were also administered the Student Perception Inventory (SPI), developed for the study, in order to determine perceptions of these learning style elements in their classroom environments. Results indicated that the LSI elements of persistence and lighting correlated with achievement in all content areas. Additionally, correlations between higher grade point averages (GPA) and LSI preferences for responsibility and teacher motivation were found in science and math classes. Results of the SPI revealed a correlation between higher grade point averages in social studies and science classrooms and the following items: persistence; motivation; and auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic modalities. All subject areas showed a correlation between higher GPA and the students’ perceived level of persistence.

Students learn new or difficult information most effectively when the classroom environment is compatible with their learning style preferences. Determining learning style preferences can be accomplished by administering the Learning Style Inventory (LSI). However, to understand compatibility with the classroom, an instrument that quantifies student perceptions of elements within the environment is essential. This paper describes development and field‐testing of such an instrument‐the Student Perception Inventory (SPI). The SPI was administered to 80 gifted middle school students and was found to provide useful student perception data. Information needed to improve learning environments for gifted learners, especially underachieving gifted students, was found when using the LSI in conjunction with the SPI.

Counseling and therapy have traditionally been known as "talking cures," used to relieve the symptoms of emotional distress and the problems in living encountered by clients as they progress through life. Consistent with the mind-body duality that had its origins in the teachings of Aristotle and Plato, whatever the theoretical underpinnings of the various theorists, and irrespective of the psychological or somatic nature of clients' concerns, these talking cures have all had as their goal facilitating changes in clients' thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and perceptions. Noticeably absent in most traditional approaches, however, has been attention to the body--to the embodied aspects of clients' psychosocial experiencing (Simonds, 1994). Even when clients have experienced significant physical trauma, as in the case of physical or sexual abuse or various health crises (e.g., mastectomy, hysterectomy, spinal cord injury, stroke), direct attention is rarely paid to the clients' relationships with and experiences of living in their bodies. Yet, each individual's history is etched in their body and is reflected in their breathing, in the lines on their faces, in their eyes, and in the way they walk in the world (P. L. Bernstein, 1986; Levy, 1988; Siegel, 1995). As Alice Miller (1981/1984) aptly stated in relation to traumatic childhood experiences, The truth about our childhood is stored up in our body, and although we can repress it, we can never alter it. Our intellect can be deceived, our feelings manipulated, our perceptions confused, and our body tricked with medication. But someday the body will present its bill. (p. 316) Vigier (1994) also speaks of the power of the "voice of the body"--a "voice inside the flesh" that is beyond interpretation, "that is simply the body speaking" (p. 236). She underscores the importance of finding ways to give voice to this "place of subtle and silent speech" (p. 236), in particular through dance. In virtually all known cultures, dance has existed as a form of communication, ritual, and celebration (Schmais & White, 1986). However, it was not until the 1930s that dance was formally adapted for therapeutic purposes (Levy, 1988), to provide individuals with mental illness or disabilities with a means of communication. Since then, it has been used in the treatment of anxiety disorders (Leste & Rust, 1990), eating disorders (Wise, 1984), Parkinson's disease (Westbrook & McKibben, 1989), addictions (Murray-Lane, 1995; Rose, 1995), head injuries (Berrol & Katz, 1985), multiple personality disorder (Baum, 1995), abused children (Goodill, 1987), battered women (Chang, 1995), older persons (Sandel & Hollander, 1995), people who are blind (Fried, 1995), people with learning difficulties (MacDonald, 1992), individuals with physical disabilities (Levy, 1988), and survivors of sexual abuse (B. Bernstein, 1995). B. Bernstein uses numerous case examples and anecdotal material to illustrate how dance therapy can be used to work through and resolve various issues that commonly arise in therapeutic work with sexual abuse survivors. These include shame, guilt, dissociation, sexuality, boundaries, intimacy, and personal power. Commonly referred to in the literature as "dance therapy" or "dance-movement therapy" (Payne, 1992), this approach to facilitating therapeutic change uses psychomotor expression as its major mode of intervention. On its Web page (http://www.adta.org), the American Dance Therapy Association defined dance therapy as "the psychotherapeutic use of movement as a process which furthers the emotional, cognitive and physical integration of the individual." Conducted individually and in groups, dance therapy is aimed broadly at facilitating personal mind, body, and emotional integration; emotional growth (P. L. Bernstein, 1986); and clearer self-definition (Payne, 1992) The movement component of dance therapy can include rhythmic dance, spontaneous and creative movements, thematic movement improvisations, unconscious symbolic body movement, group dance, and range of movement and relaxation exercises (P. …

We hypothesized that specific brain regions would activate during deception, and these areas would correlate with changes in electrodermal activity (EDA). Eight men were asked to find money hidden under various objects. While functional MRI images were acquired and EDA was recorded, the subjects gave both truthful and deceptive answers regarding the money's location. The group analysis revealed significant activation during deception in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFCx) and anterior cingulate (AC), but individual results were not consistent. Individually and as a group, EDA correlated with blood flow changes in the OFCx and AC. Specific brain regions were activated during deception, but the present technique lacks good predictive power for individuals.