In this target article, we argue that current approaches to gifted education are based on the erroneous view that to understand the development of exceptionality we need to understand firstly the components of giftedness, including cognitive such as intelligence and non-cognitive factors such as motivation. In contrast, systemic approaches to…

The commentaries to our target article "Towards a systemic theory of gifted education" differed in their assessments of the various arguments we put forward. Of the more than 40 responses to our target article, 27 responses were chosen as being representative of all commentaries. We grouped the responses according to the main points in our target…

This article begins with a brief survey of the recent update of the "Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent" (DMGT). The DMGT defines talent development as the transformation of outstanding natural abilities (called gifts) into outstanding knowledge and skills (called talents). Two types of catalysts, intrapersonal and environmental,…

In November 2005, the International Olympic Committee's Medical Commission issued a statement on "Training the elite child athlete" recommending that "more scientific research be done to better identify the parameters of training the elite child athlete". This paper focuses on a specific issue related to training the child athlete: early…

The field of gifted and talented research is in serious need of scientific work of this calibre, as distinct from theories, models and anecdotes. The author states that there is no evidence either that some individuals have an innate head start to reach an elite level, or that DNA limits achievement in healthy individuals. Ericsson's earlier work…

Following an introductory definition of "scientific ability and creativity", product-oriented, personality and social psychological approaches to studying scientific ability are examined with reference to competence and performance. Studies in the psychometric versus cognitive psychological paradigms are dealt with in more detail. These two…

This paper describes a developmental psychological approach to understanding giftedness. A theoretical model of exceptional expertise is used to frame our understanding of how gifted children's conceptual knowledge develops in a variety of domains and how the interplay of this conceptual knowledge with domain-specific skills results in rich,…

The "Rocky Mountain Talent Search" (RMTS) at the University of Denver was developed based on the talent search model developed by Dr Julian Stanley of Johns Hopkins University. This article summarizes the establishment of RMTS and outlines its contemporary programs. Guided by the philosophy that gifted students have unique needs, require academic…

This article compares the summer schools run by the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY) in England with those in the USA, run by the Centre for Talented Youth (CTY). When the NAGTY summer schools started they were based on the CTY model, but the programme has evolved over the last 3 years of operation. The article looks at basic…

The antecedents for the four regional annual talent searches for boys and girls who reason exceptionally well mathematically and/or verbally began in 1971 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, with the creation of the "Study of mathematically precocious youth" under the direction of the author of this article, its originator. Here he…

Through annual talent searches based on the model developed by Julian Stanley, the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) seeks to identify, assess and recognize students with advanced academic abilities. CTY has also developed extensive programs and services to meet the needs of these students. Having grown steadily in response to…

This article describes implementation of the talent search model developed by Julian Stanley at the Center for Talent Development of Northwestern University. While remaining true to the basic components of the talent search, the talent center at Northwestern has emphasized using talent search as a means to influence programming in local schools…

The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) is celebrating 25 years of working with gifted children both in the USA and from throughout the world. Beginning in 1979, its mission has been to identify students of exceptional academic promise and to offer them distinctive and challenging educational opportunities. More than one…

In Britain, and reflected in other countries, the academic achievements of gifted girls in school are surpassing those of gifted boys in almost all areas of study and at all ages. This is not true in every country. The British evidence suggests two major reasons for this surge by the gifted girls. Emotionally, British girls are now showing greater…

In this paper, the term 'intelligence current' is further explained and the problems found in relationships between (among) creativity, intelligence, attitude and environmental factors are discussed, according to the systematic model of creativity previously developed by the author. In this model, the performance of an individual's creativity is…