| A study combining traditional Eastern medical and Western educational theories examined the effectiveness of an experimental device called the Apparatus for Measuring Internal Meridians and Their Corresponding Organs (AMI) by comparing the electrophysiological characteristics of average and gifted children. The purpose of the study was to determine the efficacy of the AMI as part of the multifaceted assessment needed to identify the multidimensional aspects of giftedness. Participants included 172 gifted and average children ranging in ages from 7 to 11 years who were identified prior to the study as gifted or average. Results indicated that both gifted boys and girls had statistically significantly stronger general bioelectrical energy levels in the upper and in the lower body than did the average children. Gifted boys and girls had statistically significantly stronger nervous system energy levels in the lower body meridians compared with average boys and girls. Based on the discriminant function, 71% of the males and 69% of the females were correctly classified as gifted or average compared to approximately 51% (for the boys) and 45% (for the girls) who would be correctly classified by chance alone. More studies are needed that examine the effectiveness of the AMI as a tool with the capacity to assist in understanding the developing mind. Future research needs to focus on the correlation of individual meridian measures with specific attributes of giftedness which may contribute to understanding these features of the construct of giftedness. |
