Olympics of the mind as a method to identify giftedness: Soviet and Russian experience

The history of Olympics of the mind in the former USSR, now Russia, can be connected to the entire system of identifying and fostering giftedness within the country. The development of educational opportunities for the gifted has reflected the country's practical needs in stimulating research and advancing technologically, as well as for major ideological requirements.A research done on over 800 participants in the final round of a Moscow intellectual competition is reported. Tests assessing intelligence, creativity, and personality were administered. The consistency of Olympics' results scales is found to be weak. The APM score correlation with Olympics' results, even in mathematics, did not exceed the value of r = .30.