This article proposes a duplex model for understanding giftedness. The first part of the duplex is the set of gifted skills and attitudes that one possesses as a result of heredity, the environment, and their interaction. It is the input that one has acquired from one's life experiences. The second part of the duplex is the utilization or…

Professional athletes and entertainers are often identified as the source of emulation for young males, especially Black males. With far less romanticized career representations than those in the athletic arena, many Black families foster, knowingly and unknowingly, a polarized path to elusive goals of a professional athletic career. Explicitly…

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…