This thesis explores achievement-related behaviour m a group of twenty-two gifted children living m Dublin. The literature relating to giftedness and motivation is reviewed. The methodology is described. The children's home and school backgrounds are described m terms of factors believed to influence motivation and achievement. Conclusions are drawn about the effectiveness of the home and school as environments for facilitating achievement. The homes, on the whole, are found to provide the type of background generally associated with the development of gifts and talents. Gifted children are found to have problems m Dublin schools. These problems concern the content and difficulty level of work assigned, the pace of progress, teacher feedback, working conditions and discipl'1 nary regimes. Reference is made to the effect of perceived demand/ acceptance by parents and teachers on the child's motivation. Children's self-concepts, thinking styles,attitudes to school and learning,peer relationships and actual achievement levels are described. Inappropriate classroom behaviours are seen to be linked to a particular cognitive style involving the right cerebral hemisphere, indicating that the convergent thinking tasks so often prescribed for these children may be alien to their preferred way of thinking. Peer problems are also evident m the data. Many of these resulted from differences in lifestyle, levels of experience and reasoning ability as well as a desire to excel and shew leadership. The conclusions are summarised and reoommendaLions made for improving the school as a learning environment for gifted children. There is a danger that m looking for generalizable patterns of behaviour an such a small sample, one may depersonalise the child and fail to take account of the unique background of experience and a unique set of perceptions which s/he selectively brings to bear on any situation. To give a better insight into each child's achievementrelated behaviour profiles have been drawn up for each child showing the factors which at the time of the study seemed to be most relevant to each child's achievement behaviour and highlighting areas of concern where appropriate.