<strong>DMGT</strong> overview 2
Gifts (G)II – THE FIVE COMPONENTS<strong>DMGT</strong> overview 3The G component <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>DMGT</strong> clusters natural abilities <strong>into</strong> six sub-components. Four <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m aremental: intellectual (GI), creative (GC), social (GS), and perceptual (GP). The last two are physical abilities:muscular (GM) abilities devoted to large physical movements, and abilities associated with fine motor controland reflexes (GR); both usually contribute to complex physical activities (e.g., tennis, baseball, gymnastics).Natural abilities are NOT innate; <strong>the</strong>y do develop over <strong>the</strong> whole course <strong>of</strong> a person's life, but probablymore during a person's early years. Their spontaneous development through maturational processes, as well asnon-systematic daily activities, is partially controlled by <strong>the</strong> genetic endowment. This development rapidlyproduces large individual differences in a person's aptitudes for <strong>the</strong> systematic development <strong>of</strong> competencies.We can observe natural abilities in most tasks children confront in <strong>the</strong>ir daily activities and <strong>the</strong>irschooling. Think for instance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> intellectual abilities needed to learn to read, speak a foreign language, orunderstand new ma<strong>the</strong>matical concepts. Think <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> creative abilities involved in writing a short story,composing a song, drawing an attractive poster, or playing with LEGO blocks. Notice also <strong>the</strong> social abilitieschildren use in <strong>the</strong>ir daily interactions with classmates, teachers, and parents. Finally perceptual and physicalnatural abilities guide activities in <strong>the</strong> schoolyard, in neighborhood sports, or arts (dance, sculpture, crafts).Gifts manifest <strong>the</strong>mselves more easily and directly in young children because only limited systematiclearning activities have begun transforming <strong>the</strong>m <strong>into</strong> specific <strong>talents</strong>. Still, we can observe <strong>the</strong>m in olderchildren and adults through <strong>the</strong> facility and speed with which individuals acquire new knowledge and skills. Theeasier or faster <strong>the</strong> learning process, <strong>the</strong> more we will assume <strong>the</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> underlying high natural abilities.Talents (T)Nine talent sub-components appear. Six <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m correspond to <strong>the</strong> ACT's World-<strong>of</strong>-Work classification <strong>of</strong>occupations. It has its source in John Holland's well-known RIASEC work-related classification <strong>of</strong> personalitytypes: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional. The six basic types lead to 26smaller occupational groups summarily identified within each <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RIASEC categories. Three additional subcomponentscomplement <strong>the</strong> basic World-<strong>of</strong>-Work system: academic (K-12) subjects, games, and sports.Most <strong>talents</strong> are easy to assess: we need only performance measures, nothing else. Exams andstandardized achievement tests cover all K-12 subject matters. Similar assessments exist for mot occupationalfields. It is no doubt in sports that achievements are easiest to assess at levels <strong>of</strong> excellence. Note <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong>elitism in <strong>the</strong> <strong>DMGT</strong>'s concept <strong>of</strong> talent. Contrary to most scholars, who tend to borrow <strong>the</strong>ir examples fromelite pr<strong>of</strong>essions, <strong>the</strong> <strong>DMGT</strong> stresses <strong>the</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> talented individuals in most human occupations.Talent development process (D)The D component includes three sub-components: activities (DA), progress (DP), and investment (DI).The talent development process begins as soon as a child, adolescent, or adult enters, through identification orselection (DAA), a systematic, talent-oriented and long-term program <strong>of</strong> activities. I judged useful to create aneologism, <strong>the</strong> term talentee, to describe anyone participating in a systematic talent development program.The core <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> talent development activities includes a specific content (DAC), <strong>the</strong> curriculum, <strong>of</strong>feredwithin a specific learning environment (DAF or format). That learning environment may be ei<strong>the</strong>r unstructured(autodidactic learning) or structured (e.g., school, conservatory, sport organization).The progress <strong>of</strong> a talentee from initial access to peak performance can be broken down <strong>into</strong> a series <strong>of</strong>stages (DPS; e.g., novice, advanced, pr<strong>of</strong>icient, expert). Its main quantitative representation is pace (DPP), orhow fast—compared to learning peers—<strong>the</strong> talentee is progressing toward peak achievement. The long-termdevelopmental course <strong>of</strong> a talentee will be marked by a series <strong>of</strong> more or less crucial turning points: beingspotted by a teacher or coach, receiving an important scholarship, accidents, as well as positive (falling in love)or negative (death <strong>of</strong> a close one) personal events impacting <strong>the</strong> developmental process.Finally, <strong>the</strong> investment (DI) sub-component serves to illustrative quantitatively <strong>the</strong> intensity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> talentdevelopment process in terms <strong>of</strong> time, money, or psychological energy (Ericsson's deliberate practice).
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