Introduction to the Special Issue on Nature, Nurture, and the Development of Exceptional Competence

The nature and nurture of exceptional competence is a key foundational issue for gifted education. This special issue is intended to present the most current thinking about the issue by a group of leading psychological researchers from diverse traditions. The introduction of the following 5 articles is organized around 3 themes: (a) nature versus nurture (additive influence of each), (b) nature and nurture (reciprocation and interaction of the 2), and (c) nature in nurture (nature mediated by, or revealed through, nurture). It is argued that the progression from the nature-nurture debate to interactionist perspectives, to a further consideration of nature and nurture as working as 1 system, represents a more refined and deeper understanding of the role of nature and nurture in the development of exceptional competence.