Our civilization has always recognized exceptional individuals, whose performance in sports, the arts, and science isvastly superior to that of the rest of the population. Speculations on the causes of these individuals' extraordinary abilitiesand performance are as old as the first records of their achievements. Early accounts commonly attribute these individuals'outstanding performance to divine intervention, such as theinfluence of the stars or organs in their bodies, or to specialgifts (Murray, 1989). As science progressed, these explanationsbecame less acceptable. Contemporary accounts assert that thecharacteristics responsible for exceptional performance are innate and are genetically transmitted.