Much research on motivation and the gifted has tended to look at motivational characteristics of the gifted, either describing sti?dents in terms of their type or level of motivation, or comparing gifted students to others. Other research on this topic considers motivation as an outcome measure of programs or curricula for the gifted, for example determining if program participation increases student interest in a particular field. The former body of research may have the most practical use for understanding and identifications,for instructional strategy decisions and for program evaluation.