In this diagnosis, I must consider a number of psychological and sociological factors that may contribute to John Doe's poor academic performance. This diagnosis will take into consideration personal, family, and school factors, which will inform the school why John Doe is failing to meet his academic potential, and will help develop an appropriate intervention plan, which will reverse the pattern of student underperformance. The ambiguous relationship between adolescence and underachieving students must be considered. John Doe is 15 years old and in the midst of adolescence, this is undoubtedly one of the main determining factors contributing to John Doe's lower performance. Research suggests that a decline in academic achievement occurs between the ages of 10 and 14 (Compton, M.F., 1982). Adolescence is a critical time for youth development; it is a transition phase that represents a great challenge for all students. The emergence of identity, relational needs, the need for achievement and autonomy play an important role in student learning during the adolescence period. However, it is probably a more challenging time for gifted students. Cognitive developmental theorists in educational learning, such as Paiget, help understand why some gifted students underachieve during adolescence. Such theorists argue that gifted students have more rapid and vigorous cognitive movements during this period of growth that involve higher developmental stages and go beyond formal operational thinking (Cohen LM, 1993). For example, the gifted student may have the ability to process new learning at faster rates, display deeper emotional sensitivity, and understand complex concepts more easily than his or her peers. That fact...... half of the paper...... e. Sociocognitive theories help provide a meaningful understanding of underachievement in talent as this particular theory states that achievement motivation is determined by a number of both personal and social contextual factors (Dai YD 1998). Emirick (1992) states that gifted students often direct their intellectual energy to other activities that are outside the school curriculum and often do not perceive school work as a central part of their education, as they find what is taught irrelevant, this is evident in John Doe's case as he believes that reading his own material and not turning in work is more important than what is taught in class. Therefore we can assume that John Doe feels unchallenged in the classroom and is not motivated to learn since his cognitive abilities are well above the curriculum standards.