UNDERSTANDING OVEREXCITABILITIES OF PEOPLE WITH EXCEPTIONAL ABILITIES WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF COGNITION-CONATION-AFFECT-AND-SENSATION

People, young and old, with exceptional abilities, be they gifted, talented or savant, often manifest overexcitabilities (OEs) – innate intensities, heightened sensitivity and response to stimuli – that can impact positively or negatively or both on the developmental potential of an individual. The term potential refers to the human behavior (i.e., behavioral potential) that can be expressed in terms of thoughts (Cognition), actions (Conation), feelings (Affect) and senses (Sensation), also known as CCAS model. This paper examines the concept of OEs which are stemmed from Kazimierz Dabrowski’s (b.1902-d.1980) theory of positive disintegration (also known as a theory of personality development, emotional development and moral development) within the CCAS framework, where the authors have attempted to show the association between the behavioral potentials (BPs) of CCAS and the concept of the five OEs. As a result, a new model emerges to provide us a better understanding how OEs can help to better understand as well as enhance the development of human potential via BPs.