A developmental, evolutionary perspective on gifts and talents

Acknowledging that the terms gifts and talents are at the center of the fie ld's efforts to serve able children, an alternative to Professor Francoys G agne's psychometric, quantitative perspective is offered that sees gifts as broad, general analytic capabilities, and talents as specific, content-bou nd capabilities. This alternative perspective is evolutionary, developmenta l, and historical; and it assumes that both gifts and talents are natural, interact with each other over the life course, and represent two ways for h uman beings to survive and perhaps fulfill their potential.