122 verbally and spatially able children aged 10 to 15 yr. performed the portable-rod-and-frame task to permit comparison of the procedures they used to do it. When spatial ability was higher than verbal scores, a spatial procedure was more likely used; when verbal ability was higher, a verbal procedure was more often observed. As all subjects obtained scores in the upper half of the range on the Block Design and Vocabulary WISC-R subtests, and the task was presumed to be primarily spatial, it was concluded that the ability to switch cognitive strategy in recognition of personal strengths might be a metacognitive component of giftedness.