science

Overexcitability

Overexcitability is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Overexcitability rather than just read about it. In short: Overexcitability is a term introduced to current psychology by Kazimierz Dąbrowski as part of his theory of positive disintegration (TPD). Overexcitability is a rough translation of the Polish word 'nadpobudliwość', which translates literally to 'superstimulatability'. “The prefix over attached to ‘excitability’ serves to indicate that the reactions of excitation are over and above average in intensity, duration and…

Key takeaways

Overexcitability belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Overexcitability to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Overexcitability from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Overexcitability is a term introduced to current psychology by Kazimierz Dąbrowski as part of his theory of positive disintegration (TPD). Overexcitability is a rough translation of the Polish word 'nadpobudliwość', which translates literally to 'superstimulatability'. “The prefix over attached to ‘excitability’ serves to indicate that the reactions of excitation are over and above average in intensity, duration and frequency." In his book Positive Disintegration, Dąbrowski uses the terms "hyperexcitability", "increased excitability", "overexcitability" and simply "excitability". He uses these terms interchangeably with nervousness. Dąbrowski introduces these terms to describe a heightened physiological experience of stimuli resulting from increased neuronal sensitivities. He describes those who have hyperexcitability as showing "strength and perseveration of reactions incommensurate to their stimuli." Michael Piechowski noted that Dąbrowski used the term psychic overexcitability to "underline the enhancement and intensification of mental activity much beyond the ordinary".

Five forms

There are five forms of overexcitability. These five forms are psychomotor, sensual, emotional, imaginational and intellectual. Psychomotor: OE is a heightened excitability of the neuromuscular system. This manifests itself in a capacity for being active and energetic, a love of movement, a surplus of energy and an actual need for physical action. Sensual: OE is an intensified experience of any type of sensual pleasure or displeasure emanating from one of the five senses, i.e. sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. It manifests as an increased appreciation of aesthetic pleasure such as music, language, and art, and delight from tastes, smells, textures, sounds, and sights. Conversely, extreme pain and disgust are experienced upon exposure to sensations perceived as unpleasant. Intellectual: OE manifests itself as an extreme desire to seek understanding and truth, to gain knowledge, and to analyse and categorise information. Those high in Intellectual OE are commonly seen as intellectually gifted and have incredibly active minds. They are intensely curious, avid readers and keen observers. They frequently love thinking purely for the sake of thinking. Imaginational: OE manifests as an intensified play of the imagination, causing a rich association of images, invention, fantasy, use of imagery and metaphor and elaborate dreams and visions. Often children high in Imaginational OE do not differentiate between truth and fiction, or are absorbed in their own private world with imaginary companions and dramatizations. Emotional: OE is characterised by heightened, intense feelings, extreme experience of complex emotions, identification with others' feelings to the point of actual experience and strong sentimental expression. Other indications include physical response to emotional stimuli such as stomachaches when nervous and obsessive concern with death and depression. Emotionally overexcitable people have a strong capacity for deep relationships; they show strong emotional attachments to people, places, and things. They are empathetic, compassionate and extremely sensitive. According to Dąbrowski, a person who manifests any given form of overexcitability and especially one who manifests several forms of overexcitability sees reality in a different, stronger and more multisided manner.

Giftedness A small amount of definitive research has led to the belief that intensity, sensitivity and overexcitability are primary characteristics of the highly gifted. The association between OE and giftedness appears to be borne out in the research. It appears that at the least OE is a marker of potential for giftedness/creativity. Dąbrowski's basic message is that the gifted will disproportionately display this process of positive disintegration and personality growth. The term "overexcitability" was popularized in the gifted education community by Michael M. Piechowski and Susan Daniels, who edited Living with Intensity. While this theory has been commonly accepted, other research disputes the concept of overexcitabilities and suggests that the five-factor model of personality, specifically openness to experience, better explains these heightened behaviors.

See also Sensory processing sensitivity

References Falk, R.F., Lind, S., Miller, N.B., Piechowski, M.M., & Silverman, L.K. (1999). The overexcitability questionnaire –two (OEQ-II): Manual, scoring system, and questionnaire. Denver, CO: Institute for the Study of Advanced Development. Falk, R.F., Piechowski, M.M., & Lind, S. (1994). Criteria for rating levels of intensity of overexcitabilities. Unpublished manuscript, University of Akron, Ohio. https://positivedisintegration.com/Piechowski1999.pdf Archived 2023-03-28 at the Wayback Machine Dabrowski's Overexcitabilities Profile among Gifted Students Aliza Alias1, Saemah Rahman, Rosadah Abd Majid1 & Siti Fatimah Mohd Yassin2

"A glossary of Dabrowski's terms and concepts". positivedisintegration.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-01. Retrieved 2018-04-23. Lysy, K. Z.; Piechowski, M. M. (1983). "Personal Growth: An Empirical Study Using Jungian and Dąbrowskian Measures". Genetic Psychology Monographs. 108: 267–320. Piechowski, M. M. (1986). "The Concept of Developmental Potential". Roeper Review. 8 (3): 190–97. doi:10.1080/02783198609552971.

Books Dąbrowski, K. (1967). Personality-shaping through Positive Disintegration. Boston, Mass.: Little Brown. Dąbrowski, K.; Kawczak, A. & Piechowski, M. M. (1970). Mental Growth Through Positive Disintegration. London: Gryf. Dąbrowski, K. (1964). Positive Disintegration. Boston, Mass.: Little Brown. Dąbrowski, K. (1964). Positive Disintegration. Maurice Bassett, 2016 Fonseca, Christine. Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students. Prufrock Press Inc, 2011. Jacobsen, Mary-Elaine. The Gifted Adult. Random House Publishing 1999. Rankin, J. G. (2016). Engaging & challenging gifted students: Tips for supporting extraordinary minds in your classroom. Alexandra, VA: ASCD. Tillier, William. Personality Development through Positive Disintegration: The Work of Kazimierz Dabrowski. Maurice Bassett, 2018 Webb, James T. Searching for Meaning, Idealism, Bright Minds, Disillusionment, and Hope. Great Potential Press, 2013.

Further reading Overexcitability and the Gifted [1] Positive disintegration

External links

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Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Overexcitability

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Overexcitability claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Overexcitability before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Overexcitability ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Overexcitability

In research: Overexcitability appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Overexcitability in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Overexcitability is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Personality, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Overexcitability outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Overexcitability in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Overexcitability means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Overexcitability out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Overexcitability in simple terms?

Why does Overexcitability matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Overexcitability?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Overexcitability.