Adapting conceptual models for cross-cultural applications

Abstract

As Campbell and Tirri (2004) pointed out, it is of major importance to use psychological tests and questionnaires that are carefully constructed so that their reliability and validity can be determined in different cultures or subcultures. However, before investing in such efforts, it is even more urgent to develop solid conceptual constructs. Otherwise, the researcher runs into the danger of collecting data in an empirical manner and loosing touch with reality. This approach also makes it difficult to apply findings to other lines of investigation in the psychological literature. In this article we first show why and how the Munich Dynamic Ability-Achievement Model (MDAAM) evolved from the Munich Model of Giftedness (MMG). We then integrate a number of diverse ideas and empirical findings from various international studies. In the second part we will illustrat how the MDAAM can stimulate and structure theoretical and empirical research. Attempting to bridge the gap between the process-oriented approaches of cognitive studies and expertise research on the one hand and the psychometric studies in the field on the other hand, the MDAAM can be used as an integrative model of giftedness, talent, expertise, and achievement.