This article describes a three-step process by which behaviors are associated with the concept of "giftedness." In the first step, a three-way interaction of a person x task x situation leads to some kind of excellence in a societally significant performance. In the second step, that performance is identified as excellent and societally…

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…

The Stigma of Giftedness Paradigm served as the theoretical framework to develop a questionnaire which examined the school-based social cognition of 465 gifted adolescents. The model (which focuses on effect of the gifted label on adolescent wishes for normal social interactions) was found to aid in understanding the psychosocial development of…