Despite extensive research, questions underlying the nature and nurture of talent remain both numerous and diverse. In the current paper, we present an account that addresses 2 of the primary questions inspired by this debate: (a) the very existence of innate talents and (b) how exceptional abilities are developed. The development of exceptional…

This article examines implicit social and political assumptions underlying "The Bell Curve." The book's suggestion that there is increasing stratification between the "IQ haves" and the "IQ have-nots" is critiqued, noting that the social construction of reality is obscured in the book's schema. Sociologists and gifted…

Although British psychologist Francis Galton lost the battle for the definition of intelligence in his own time, his views live on in the work of Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray. They argue that the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is an adequate measure of intelligence, and that IQ is highly heritable. They contend that there are racial and…