This study examined the talent development of five Davidson Fellowship science winners using the Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent. The Davidson Fellowship program recognizes students under the age of 18 who have completed a significant piece of original work in one of six fields: science, technology, mathematics, music, literature, or philosophy. Parents of four of the Fellows also participated in the multiple-case study, which used semi-structured phone interviews to gather data. The cross-case analysis of this multiple-case study revealed that the Fellows traveled multiple pathways to success. Each Fellow and his family took advantage of different educational options, formal and informal. No consistent educational programming existed across participants from different schools in different areas of the country, except AP® courses and science fairs. The Fellows encountered a number of different negative catalysts in the environment, including a lack of challenge in the public schools, inconsistent treatment by teachers and administrators, variable availability of challenging school and extracurricular opportunities, difficulties with peers, and challenging logistical arrangements necessary for participation in extracurricular opportunities. The strength of these negative catalysts was offset by a number of protective factors, or positive catalysts. The positive catalysts were both strong and numerous in each of the Fellows. Each Fellow presented evidence of very high ability. They were healthy. They were raised in supportive learning environments that encouraged taking risks, striving for excellence, and improvement over earning good grades. They had multiple supportive adults in their lives: parents, teachers, and mentors who created a layered support system. When one adult was not available, there were others on whom the student could depend in a crisis. The parent relationship was particularly strong. Each Fellow reported, and each of the parents confirmed, a uniquely supportive relationship with their parents marked by mutual respect and admiration. Each Fellow presented strong motivation for his work. Each displayed a candid awareness of his own strengths and weaknesses, and a willingness to confront and apply himself to remedy weaknesses. They all presented compelling evidence of a tenacious perseverance. Stronger than the negative catalysts, these positive catalysts worked in concert to protect the individual against failure or resignation.

Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2017-08-22T15:07:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 clarissasallescostaferreira.pdf: 998370 bytes, checksum: d07a6c984416125a5b3fecc7e6c5125f (MD5) / Rejected by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br), reason: on 2017-08-24T11:35:08Z (GMT) / Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2017-08-24T14:00:54Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-08-30T12:33:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-30T12:33:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2017-05-02 / O talento tem sido alvo de pesquisas em diversas áreas, como a Psicologia, Esporte, Educação, Artes, entre outras. Nesta dissertação, o talento esportivo, especialmente o talento para natação, foi investigado, tendo como base o Modelo Diferencial de Dotação e Talento (DMGT 2.0). O objetivo geral foi analisar um modelo diferencial de dotação e talento para natação. Considerando a complexidade e o caráter multidimensional do talento para natação, este trabalho é composto por dois estudos inter-relacionados. No primeiro, realizado com 94 nadadores, de ambos os sexos, com idades entre 10 e 13 anos (M = 11,69; DP = 1,08), teve como objetivo analisar as propriedades métricas de um protocolo de identificação de dotação física para natação (Pidofina). Verificou-se que o Pidofina apresenta boas qualidades métricas. O segundo estudo contou com a participação de seis treinadores/professores e 91 nadadores, com idades médias de 11,68 (DP=01,06). Objetivou-se analisar as propriedades métricas de um conjunto de medidas utilizado para identificar talento em natação. Ademais, associar dotação física para natação, talento para natação e catalisadores intrapessoais. Foi observado que estas medidas explicam de forma diferente e limitada a variância dos perfis de talento para natação. Ressalta-se que a identificação do talento para natação, mais especificamente, dos fatores ambientais, genéticos e psicológicos a ele associados, são imprescindíveis para que programas sistemáticos de desenvolvimento sejam implementados e, consequentemente, tais talentos não sejam desperdiçados. / Talent has been the object of research in various areas, such as Psychology, Sport, Education, Arts, among others. In this dissertation, sports talent, especially swimming talent, was investigated, based on the Differential Model Gifted and Talent (DMGT 2.0). The general objective was to analyze a differential model gifted and talent for swimming. Considering the complexity and multidimensional nature of swimming talent, this work is composed of two interrelated studies. In the first, carried out with 94 swimmers of both genders and with ages between 10 and 13 years old (M = 11.69; SD = 1.08), the metric properties of a protocol of identification of physical gifted for swimming (Pidofina) were analyzed. It was verified that Pidofina has good metric qualities. The second study had the participation of six coaches/teachers and 91 swimmers, with a mean age of 11.68 (SD = 01.06). The objective was to analyze the metric properties of a set of measures used to identify talent in swimming. In addition, to associate physical giftedness for swimming, talent for swimming and intrapersonal catalysts. It was observed that these measures explain in a different and limited way the variance of swimming talent profiles. It is emphasized that the identification of swimming talent, more specifically the environmental, genetic, and psychological factors associated with it, are essential for the implementation of systematic development programs and, consequently, not wasting such talents.