Conceptual ambiguity surrounds notions of gifted and talented; justification for talent development is often linked with rejection of the term gifted. Talent development should mean identification of those who show superior natural abilities as well as aptitudes for a particular domain and emphasis on developing those special skills. (SK)

This article offers a model that distinguishes between natural abilities (or aptitudes) and systematically developed skills (talents). Aptitudes are seen as the constituent elements of talents, which are developed by such constructs as motivation, temperament, and significant persons. The model is then applied to the appropriate use of labels for…

This paper updates the discussion of Francoys Gagne's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT), which proposes a clear distinction between these two most basic concepts in the field of gifted education. Under the DMGT model, giftedness is defined as the possession and use of untrained and spontaneously expressed superior natural…