Talents that selectively facilitate the acquisition of high levels of skill are said to be present in some children but not others. The evidence for this includes biological correlates of specific abilities, certain rare abilities in autistic savants, and the seemingly spontaneous emergence of exceptional abilities in young children, but there is also contrary evidence indicating an absence of early precursors of high skill levels. An analysis of positive and negative evidence and arguments suggests that differences in early experiences, preferences, (...) opportunities, habits, training, and practice are the real determinants of excellence. Key Words: exceptional ability; expertise; gift; innate capacity; music; potential; prodigy; specific ability; talent. (shrink)

The author shows how simple models based on mutual interactions between children and their environments explain not only smooth evolutions but also sudden jumps, temporal regressions, cycles and chaotic change in cognitive and language development. A central concept of the system is non-linearity - small causes can have big effects and variables may be sensitive to threshold effects.