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Deliberate Practice and Performance in Music, Games, Sports, Education, and Professions: A Meta-Analysis

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More than 20 years ago, researchers proposed that individual differences in performance in such domains as music, sports, and games largely reflect individual differences in amount of deliberate practice, which was defined as engagement in structured activities created specifically to improve performance in a domain. This view is a frequent topic of popular-science writing-but is it supported by empirical evidence? To answer this question, we conducted a meta-analysis covering all major domains in which deliberate practice has been investigated. We found that deliberate practice explained 26% of the variance in performance for games, 21% for music, 18% for sports, 4% for education, and less than 1% for professions. We conclude that deliberate practice is important, but not as important as has been argued.
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... A body of evidence now exists supporting the role of prolonged engagement in specified training activities for improving performance in general and in developing world-class performance (see Harris & Eccles, 2021, for an overview). While the relative contribution of training versus other factors is still being explored (e.g., Ericsson & Harwell, 2019;Macnamara et al., 2014), the critical point is that prolonged engagement in specified training activities (i.e., deliberate practice) is considered necessary for reaching the top levels of performance, even among researchers questioning the level of relative contribution to performance (e.g., Campitelli & Gobet, 2011;Meinz & Hambrick, 2010). Previous publications indicate that deliberate practice explains approximately 18%-26% of the variance in more clearly defined fields such as games, music, and sports, but there is evidence that the strength of the relationship is weaker in fields with greater ambiguity for what constitutes superior performance (Macnamara et al., 2014). ...
... While the relative contribution of training versus other factors is still being explored (e.g., Ericsson & Harwell, 2019;Macnamara et al., 2014), the critical point is that prolonged engagement in specified training activities (i.e., deliberate practice) is considered necessary for reaching the top levels of performance, even among researchers questioning the level of relative contribution to performance (e.g., Campitelli & Gobet, 2011;Meinz & Hambrick, 2010). Previous publications indicate that deliberate practice explains approximately 18%-26% of the variance in more clearly defined fields such as games, music, and sports, but there is evidence that the strength of the relationship is weaker in fields with greater ambiguity for what constitutes superior performance (Macnamara et al., 2014). Nevertheless, even these lower estimates seem to be on par with the average variance explained of 3%-4% within psychological science (Harwell & Southwick, 2021). ...
... For example, a central principle of deliberate practice is repetition of a specific target skill under a controlled setting (Ericsson & Pool, 2016). Although this principle seems to be beneficial for well-defined fields (i.e., fields with clear standards for measuring performance), such as sports, whether it will yield the same benefits in less-defined fields remains to be seen (Macnamara et al., 2014). For example, the medical field is marked by considerable variability such that no scenario is exactly the same. ...
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... Researchers from diverse disciplines, including but not limited to music education, performance science, music psychology, and neuroscience, have acknowledged the crucial role of efficient practice strategies in enhancing expertise. Among these strategies, imagery-focused approaches have been identified as particularly beneficial (e.g., Driskell et al., 1994;Ericsson, 1998;Macnamara et al., 2014). Imagery refers to the inner conscious process of representing or recreating multifaced sensory information (e.g., auditory, visuomotor, etc.) in the mind, particularly in the absence of the external stimulus (Cumming and Williams, 2012;Kosslyn et al., 2001). ...
... Individual differences, such as innate capacity or talent (Ericsson and Harwell, 2019;Macnamara et al., 2014), as well as the vividness of mental representation and the ability to manipulate imagery content (Highben and Palmer, 2004), have been argued to contribute to the acquisition of expertise. However, to advance oneself as a selfimproving artist, voluntarily imagining the desired performance in vivid detail and aligning it with performance action has been commonly agreed upon as a necessary element of deliberate practice (Ericsson, 1998;Ericsson and Harwell, 2019;Lehmann and Ericsson, 1997). ...
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Practice is acknowledged as a crucial facilitator for musicians to achieve performance excellence. Despite the rich literature on incorporating musical imagery intentionally to improve one’s practice efficacy, limitations remain in the understanding of voluntary musical imagery (VMI) in the context of musical practice. Therefore, our aims in this review are threefold. First, we enriched the interpretation of VMI in the context of music practice through the lens of embodied cognition. Second, we integrated neuroscientific findings to elucidate how the deliberate use of musical imagery parallels physical practice in effectiveness. Third, we synthesize work on the application of VMI in enhancing musical learning from both theoretical and practical perspectives. By providing an integrated overview of voluntary musical imagery, we highlight gaps in the literature and encourage further research on (1) the impact of embodied experiences on VMI formation, (2) optimal imagery content and ratio combination to establish a personalized intervention protocol for more effective musical pedagogy, and (3) on physiological measures to access VMI effectiveness. Additionally, we highlight the crucial implications of VMI for researchers, performers, and music educators.
... Researchers from diverse disciplines, including but not limited to music education, performance science, music psychology, and neuroscience, have acknowledged the crucial role of efficient practice strategies in enhancing expertise. Among these strategies, imagery-focused approaches have been identified as particularly beneficial (e.g., Driskell et al., 1994;Ericsson, 1998;Macnamara et al., 2014). ...
... This influential work shaped understanding of how expert-level skills in music are achieved not merely through hours of practice but through engaging in specifically-designed exercises (Mazur and Laguna, 2019;Sloboda et al., 1996). In a later meta-analysis, Platz et al. (2014) Individual differences, such as innate capacity or talent (Ericsson and Harwell, 2019;Macnamara et al, 2014), as well as the vividness of mental representation and the ability to manipulate imagery content (Highben and Palmer, 2004), have been argued to contribute to the acquisition of expertise. However, to advance oneself as a selfimproving artist, voluntarily imagining the desired performance in vivid detail and aligning it with performance action has been commonly agreed upon as a necessary element of deliberate practice (Ericsson, 1998;Ericsson and Harwell, 2019;Lehmann and Ericsson, 1997). ...
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Practice is acknowledged as a crucial facilitator for musicians to achieve performance excellence. Despite the rich literature on incorporating musical imagery intentionally to improve one’s practice efficacy, limitations remain in the understanding of voluntary musical imagery (VMI) in the context of musical practice. Therefore, our aims in this review are threefold. First, we enriched the interpretation of VMI in the context of music practice through the lens of embodied cognition. Second, we integrated neuroscientific findings to elucidate how the deliberate use of musical imagery parallels physical practice in effectiveness. Third, we synthesize work on the application of VMI in enhancing musical learning from both theoretical and practical perspectives. By providing an integrated overview of voluntary musical imagery, we highlight gaps in the literature and encourage further research on 1) the impact of embodied experiences on VMI formation, 2) optimal imagery content and ratio combination to establish a personalized intervention protocol for more effective musical pedagogy, and 3) on physiological measures to access VMI effectiveness. Additionally, we highlight the crucial implications of VMI for researchers, performers, and music educators.
... One recent expertise model by Ullén et al. 14 shifts attention away from deliberate practice 15 which has dominated expertise research for quite some time, and opens the field for a multitude of domains that impact on eliteness through their interactions. Recent studies have found that the variance explained by deliberate practice varies, therefore casting doubt on its ultimate impact 16 . For instance, data from Güllich and Barth 17 stress that not even the presence of extraordinarily high early-career achievements can be validated in the vast majority of future elite athletes. ...
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