Peak Ch. 8

Question 1

role of innate characteristics in expertise

Answer 1

Innate characteristics play a much smaller and different role than many people assume

Question 2

why do people believe in innate talent?

Answer 2

because of the presence of prodigies like Paganini

Question 3

story behind Paganini’s talent

Answer 3

In reality, Paganini had spent hours practicing his violin routine where his strings gradually “broke”

Question 4

evidence of prodigies

Answer 4

Ericsson has not found evidence of any prodigies who achieved high levels of success without significant practice

Question 5

Ericsson’s explanation for the accomplishments of Mozart & Lemieux

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

what two questions can you ask to examine the accomplishments of someone with exceptional skills?

Answer 6

1. What is the talent?
2. What practice led to the talent?

Question 7

two areas where genetics impact sports performance

Answer 7

Height
Body size

Question 8

Donald Thomas

Answer 8

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

Question 9

evidence against Donald Thomas as a prodigy

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

savants

Answer 10

people with strong abilities in a specific domain who otherwise struggle to function in the world

Question 11

Happe & Vital savants study

Answer 11

• 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

Question 12

Addis savants and calendar calculations study

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

are there people who are born without the ability to sing?

Answer 13

There is no evidence that large numbers of people are born without the ability to sing

Question 14

what is the biggest obstacle for non-singers?

Answer 14

overcoming the believe that they can’t sing

Question 15

are math abilities innate?

Answer 15

Pretty much any child can learn math if it is taught the right way

Question 16

JUMP math

Answer 16

a Canadian curriculum based on the principles of deliberate practice

Question 17

success of JUMP math

Answer 17

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

Question 18

picking up a new skill and innate talent

Answer 18

There are obvious differences in how quickly people pick up a new skill

Question 19

example of the different ways people pick up a skill

Answer 19

Children with higher IQs become better chess players faster

Question 20

IQ

Answer 20

a cognitive factor, measured by IQ tests, that predicts success in some things like school

Question 21

Bilalic et al., 2006 chess study

Answer 21

found that there was no correlation between IQ and how good a young chess player was

Question 22

studies on adult chess players and innate talent

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

GO masters and IQ

Answer 23

Go masters score no higher on IQ tests than people in the general population

Question 24

Bilalic et al. follow-up studies

Answer 24

• 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

Question 25

Bilalic et al. studies takeaway

Answer 25

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

Question 26

IQ and musical performance study

Answer 26

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

Question 27

visuospatial ability in oral surgeons study

Answer 27

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

Question 28

IQ and scientific productivity

Answer 28

Among scientists, there is no correlation between IQ and scientific productivity

Question 29

IQ in scientists

Answer 29

Scientists generally have IQs of 110-120+

Question 30

impact of genetic factors on “being the best”

Answer 30

Among those who have practiced enough, there is no evidence that genetically-determined capacities determine who will be the best

Question 31

innate ability in tennis players study

Answer 31

• 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

Question 32

when are genetic differences more likely to manifest themselves?

Answer 32

through the necessary practice and effort that go into developing a skill

Question 33

innate abilities and vocabulary development study

Answer 33

A young child’s temperament and ability to pay attention to their parent influences the size of the vocabulary they will develop

Question 34

what kind of role do genes play?

Answer 34

they play a role by shaping how likely a person is to engage in deliberate practice and how effective that deliberate practice is

Question 35

downside of viewing talent as innate

Answer 35

it creates self-fulfilling prophecies

Question 36

example of innate talent as a self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 36

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