Psychológia a patopsychológia dieťaťa, 43, 2008, č. 4, s. 307–323

Fears are a normal part of every child’s life. Researches in the area of developmental psychology point to the existence of certain rules in the development of child fears. Younger children are most frequently afraid of certain types of animals, poltergeists, and monsters. Only in the period of adolescence do fears become less egocentric and more concentrated on global threats. In the presented research, the authors focused on mapping fears of exceptionally intellectually gifted children at younger school age. The research indicates that the accelerated cognitive development and greater access to information, which regular peers of these children usually do not receive in the given developmental stage, result in the earlier onset of global fears (from space or natural catastrophes) than expected on the basis of chronological age of children.

(in Czech language)