Peak Ch. 8 Flashcards
role of innate characteristics in expertise
Innate characteristics play a much smaller and different role than many people assume
why do people believe in innate talent?
because of the presence of prodigies like Paganini
story behind Paganini’s talent
In reality, Paganini had spent hours practicing his violin routine where his strings gradually “broke”
evidence of prodigies
Ericsson has not found evidence of any prodigies who achieved high levels of success without significant practice
Ericsson’s explanation for the accomplishments of Mozart & Lemieux
- The accomplishments of Wolfgang Mozart and Mario Lemieux can be explained by deliberate practice
- Both grew up with parents who introduced them to their domain at a very young age
- Their parents encouraged them to practice and provided help when needed
what two questions can you ask to examine the accomplishments of someone with exceptional skills?
- What is the talent?
- What practice led to the talent?
two areas where genetics impact sports performance
Height
Body size
Donald Thomas
a high jumper who is often described as having natural talent which was discovered when he was in college. But, there is significant evidence that this isn’t the case
evidence against Donald Thomas as a prodigy
- He competed in the high jump in high school
- He had already developed a Fosbury Flop, which is almost impossible to do without extended practice
- He had strong jumping ability while dunking, which he developed with practice
- He didn’t improve much after college; if he hadn’t trained, he should have improved significantly more
savants
people with strong abilities in a specific domain who otherwise struggle to function in the world
Happe & Vital savants study
- Found that autistic savants are much more likely than nonsavants to be detail-oriented and prone to repetitive behaviours
- This makes them more likely to engage in deliberate practice
Addis savants and calendar calculations study
- Trained twins with normal intelligence to perform calendar calculations (name the day of the week of a particular date)
- Addis then trained his graduate student to do the same thing and his response times followed the same patterns as the twins, suggesting that they engaged in similar cognitive processes
are there people who are born without the ability to sing?
There is no evidence that large numbers of people are born without the ability to sing
what is the biggest obstacle for non-singers?
overcoming the believe that they can’t sing
are math abilities innate?
Pretty much any child can learn math if it is taught the right way
JUMP math
a Canadian curriculum based on the principles of deliberate practice
success of JUMP math
In a randomized control trial, JUMP classrooms showed, after 5 months, more than twice as much progress as other classrooms in understanding mathematical concepts as measured by standardized tests
picking up a new skill and innate talent
There are obvious differences in how quickly people pick up a new skill
example of the different ways people pick up a skill
Children with higher IQs become better chess players faster
IQ
a cognitive factor, measured by IQ tests, that predicts success in some things like school
Bilalic et al., 2006 chess study
found that there was no correlation between IQ and how good a young chess player was
studies on adult chess players and innate talent
- Adult chess players have no better visuospatial abilities than non-chess-playing adults
- Skilled adult chess players do not have systematically higher IQs than other adults with similar levels of education
- There is no correlation between the IQ scores of highly skilled chess players and their ranking
GO masters and IQ
Go masters score no higher on IQ tests than people in the general population
Bilalic et al. follow-up studies
- Found that the amount of practice that children in chess club had done was the greatest predictor of their success. IQ played a smaller, but still significant role
- However, when examining 23 elite players, they found that IQ had the opposite effect: players in the elite group with lower IQs were slightly better. Practice was still the most important factor
- Chess players with lower IQs tended to practice more, but ultimately this practice paid off
Bilalic et al. studies takeaway
When children are beginning to learn chess, their IQ plays a role in how quickly they can acquire a minimal level of competence. However, as they progress, mental representations play a more important role
IQ and musical performance study
In music, there is an early correlation between IQ and performance but this correlation gets smaller as years of study increase, to the point where there is no correlation among college music majors
visuospatial ability in oral surgeons study
A study on expertise in oral surgery found that the performance of dental students was related to their performance of visuospatial ability but the same trend was not found for dental residents and surgeons
IQ and scientific productivity
Among scientists, there is no correlation between IQ and scientific productivity
IQ in scientists
Scientists generally have IQs of 110-120+
impact of genetic factors on “being the best”
Among those who have practiced enough, there is no evidence that genetically-determined capacities determine who will be the best
innate ability in tennis players study
- A 2012 study of tennis players found no relationship between the success and rankings of junior tennis players and their success and rankings after turning pro
- There should have been a clear relationship if tennis skills are genetically determined
when are genetic differences more likely to manifest themselves?
through the necessary practice and effort that go into developing a skill
innate abilities and vocabulary development study
A young child’s temperament and ability to pay attention to their parent influences the size of the vocabulary they will develop
what kind of role do genes play?
they play a role by shaping how likely a person is to engage in deliberate practice and how effective that deliberate practice is
downside of viewing talent as innate
it creates self-fulfilling prophecies
example of innate talent as a self-fulfilling prophecy
More Canadian hockey players are born in January-March than in October-December. This happens because they are almost a year older and receive more praise from coaches for their seemingly superior abilities, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy
