Content uploaded by Frederick L Oswald
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Frederick L Oswald on Jul 10, 2014
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Deliberate Practice and Performance in Music, Games, Sports, Education, and Professions: A Meta-Analysis
Abstract and Figures
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.
Figures - uploaded by Frederick L Oswald
Author content
All figure content in this area was uploaded by Frederick L Oswald
Content may be subject to copyright.
... While highly influential, the approach has also been criticized, for example because of methodological shortcomings (Gobet, 2016;Hambrick et al., 2014). When attention is focused on education (including topics such as science and mathematics), a meta-analysis found that the effect of deliberate practice is small (4% of the variance in performance; Macnamara et al., 2014). ...
... The only study addressing this topic (De Bruin et al., 2008) found no deliberate-practice effects on the gender gap. However, any conclusion here should be tentative, as the effects of deliberate practice are larger with games (26% of the variance explained) than those found in education (4%; Macnamara et al., 2014). Biological Explanations. ...
There is a considerable gender gap in chess; for example, only one female player belongs to the world's 100 top players. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on gender differences in chess, highlighting the parallels that can be drawn with gender differences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The paper reviews all the empirical evidence obtained from experimental papers and from the analysis of chess databases. Based on this evidence, it discusses several alternative explanations that have been proposed to explain the performance gender gap in chess and STEM. These explanations include statistical justifications, explanations based on intelligence, personality and motivation, socio-cultural factors, and biological explanations. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of this field of research are evaluated and broader implications drawn.
... Genius is not born but rather self-made. Unfortunately, comprehensive meta-analyses show that deliberate practice, however defined, cannot explain all or even most of the variance in most achievement domains, including those that require creativity (Macnamara, Hambrick, & Oswald, 2014). Of special interest is the fact that achieved eminence in creative domains is positively associated with earlier onsets of expertise acquisition as well as shorter acquisition periods before the necessary expertise is obtained (e.g., Simonton, 2016b). ...
This handbook focuses on the development and nurturance of creativity across the lifespan, from early childhood to adolescence, adulthood, and later life. It answers the question: how can we help individuals turn their creative potential into achievement? Each chapter examines various contexts in which creativity exists, including school, workplace, community spaces, and family life. It covers various modalities for fostering creativity such as play, storytelling, explicit training procedures, shifting of attitudes about creative capacity, and many others. The authors review research findings across disciplines, encompassing the work of psychologists, educators, neuroscientists, and creators themselves, to describe the best practices for fostering creativity at each stage of development.
... Flowchart of the literature search and selection process. Source: Developed by the authors based on[7]. ...
The aim of this study was to assess urban policies from the point of view of their impact on energy efficiency as a factor enhancing local competitiveness in Poland. To achieve this objective, we carried out an original study. The first step was to conduct a literature review. Next, an attempt was made to present the prevailing state of knowledge regarding the management of the competitiveness of cities and regions, as well as the functioning of energy efficiency in the economy. The development strategies of 18 selected cities serving as provincial capitals or playing other administrative roles at the regional level were also analysed. Importantly, the impact envisaged for municipal authorities to improve energy efficiency largely focuses on investments in the modernisation of public transport infrastructure and renewable energy sources. These investments certainly yield substantial cost savings, which are presented in the article. Nevertheless, it is essential to bear in mind that these are not the sole advantages of increased energy efficiency of local socio-economic systems. The investments also have the potential to enhance the perception of cities, increase the value of municipal real estate, and improve the health of urban residents by reducing emissions into the atmosphere. Still, a clearly discernible link between these arguments and a positive impact of cities’ energy savings on their competitive standing and competitive edge is absent from the analysed city development strategies.
... Network topologies are different, and runners' performance could also be context-driven. On the other hand, it is known that the effect of deliberate practice on performance is larger for highly predictable activities (e.g., running) than for less predictable ones (e.g., handling a medical emergency) (Macnamara et al., 2014). ...
... Perhaps there could also be a training effect by repeating the same tests as in the previous evaluation [74]. In fact, considering the results about deliberate practice and study time [75,76], we could expect even lower results in academic competencies in the Conectar Jugando group than in the control group. The control group was not passive, but they continued the regular classes. ...
Zusammenfassung
Einleitung Der Prozess des lebenslangen Kompetenzerwerbs in medizinischen Berufen spielt im Rahmen der Neustrukturierung der Studiengänge eine besondere Rolle. Das aktive, selbstbestimmte Lernen findet Anwendung auch in der operativen Ausbildung, um manuelle Fertigkeiten zu erlernen. Die individualisierte, spezifisch auf die Bedürfnisse des Lernenden abgestimmte Zielsetzung gefolgt von Übungen sowie Feedback ermöglicht den Erwerb operativer Kompetenz.
Material und Methoden Die chirurgische Ausbildung ähnelt einer musischen Ausbildung oder Sportausübung, da sowohl intellektuelle als auch manuelle Fertigkeiten erworben werden müssen. Dort kommen Trainingsprinzipien bestehend aus Fehleranalyse, Zielsetzung, Übung sowie Reflexion erfolgreich zum Einsatz. Die Zielsetzung wird entsprechend dem SMART Prinzip gewählt, um eine bestmögliche Umsetzung zu gewährleisten. Diese Übungsstrategie kann auch in der operativen Ausbildung zum Einsatz kommen.
Anwendungen Dem Ausbildungsstadium entsprechend, können sowohl chirurgische Prinzipien als auch Teilaspekte bis komplette Eingriffe dem SMART Prinzip entsprechend geübt werden. Dies ermöglicht den Kompetenzerwerb und das Erlernen manueller Fertigkeiten ohne Nachteile für die Patientensicherheit.
Diskussion Die chirurgische Ausbildung beinhaltet den Erwerb von intellektuellen als auch manuellen Fertigkeiten und ist demnach mit anderen kompetitiven Felder wie Musik und Sport vergleichbar. Im Gegensatz dazu sind allerdings die Trainingsmöglichkeiten im heutigen Spannungsfeld zwischen Hochleistungsmedizin und Kostendruck für den Erwerb chirurgischer Fähigkeiten limitiert. Daher sind Simulationsmöglichkeiten im Rahmen des selbstbestimmten Lernens von zunehmender Bedeutung. Das SMART Prinzip in der Zielsetzung ermöglicht die Fragmentierung von komplexen operativen Schritten in Teilbereiche, welche in einem überschaubaren Zeitrahmen erfolgreich erlernt werden können. Da diese Art der Entwicklung nicht allen Individuen intuitiv verfügbar ist, kann dieses Prinzip von Ausbildern und Mentoren empfohlen werden, um auch außerhalb des Operationsaals manuelle Fertigkeiten zu erlernen.
The theoretical framework presented in this article explains expert performance as the end result of individuals' prolonged efforts to improve performance while negotiating motivational and external constraints. In most domains of expertise, individuals begin in their childhood a regimen of effortful activities (deliberate practice) designed to optimize improvement. Individual differences, even among elite performers, are closely related to assessed amounts of deliberate practice. Many characteristics once believed to reflect innate talent are actually the result of intense practice extended for a minimum of 10 years. Analysis of expert performance provides unique evidence on the potential and limits of extreme environmental adaptation and learning.
As research in psychology becomes more sophisticated and more oriented toward the development and testing of theory, it becomes more important to eliminate biases in data caused by measurement error. Both failure to correct for biases induced by measurement error and improper corrections can lead to erroneous conclusions that retard progress toward cumulative knowledge. Corrections for attenuation due to measurement error are common in the literature today and are becoming more common, yet errors are frequently made in this process. Technical psychometric presentations of abstract measurement theory principles have proved inadequte in improving the practices of working researchers. As an alternative, this article uses realistic research scenarios (cases) to illustrate and explain appropriate and inappropriate instances of correction for measurement error in commonly occurring research situations.
This article summarizes the practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research in personnel selection. On the basis of meta-analytic findings, this article presents the validity of 19 selection procedures for predicting job performance and training performance and the validity of paired combinations of general mental ability (GMA) and the 18 other selection procedures. Overall, the 3 combinations with the highest multivariate validity and utility for job performance were GMA plus a work sample test (mean validity of .63), GMA plus an integrity test (mean validity of .65), and GMA plus a structured interview (mean validity of .63). A further advantage of the latter 2 combinations is that they can be used for both entry level selection and selection of experienced employees. The practical utility implications of these summary findings are substantial. The implications of these research findings for the development of theories of job performance are discussed.
This commentary integrates the contents of four recent articles on individual differences (Nye, Su, Rounds, & Drasgow, 2012; Schmidt, 2011; Valla & Ceci, 2011; von Stumm, Hell, & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2011) in a causal theoretical model. In this model, introversion and fluid intelligence cause interest in general learning (intellectual curiosity), which in turn is a major cause of crystallized intelligence. Certain specific interests and fluid intelligence also contribute to crystallized intelligence. Prenatal testosterone hormone conditioning is postulated to cause sex differences in certain specific interests but not in others. Crystallized intelligence, specific interests, and the personality trait of conscientiousness cause adult academic and occupational performance, whereas crystallized intelligence is the main cause of good mental functioning at older ages. Research is presented supporting each link in the model.
© The Author(s) 2014.
The coming of language occurs at about the same age in every healthy child throughout the world, strongly supporting the concept that genetically determined processes of maturation, rather than environmental influences, underlie capacity for speech and verbal understanding. Dr. Lenneberg points out the implications of this concept for the therapeutic and educational approach to children with hearing or speech deficits.
This chapter is an attempt to address the central question of the expert-performance approach for creative performance—namely, how can one identify and examine reproducibly superior performance the expert-performance approach offers a unique framework for studying skill and expert performance. Whereas studies of expertise have traditionally identified highly educated and experienced individuals as experts and compared their performance to less experienced individuals, the expert-performance approach is committed to the objective study of superior performance, which captures the underlying skill in that domain and then designs controlled tasks that reproduce the relevant performance in standardized laboratory settings. The successful research on expert performance has focused on a single individual's performance, such as the surgeon, the soloist or the nurse in charge of post-operational care. The expert-performance approach is strongly committed to objective measures of performance and actively avoids judgments and ratings by supervisors or teachers, unless they can be demonstrated to be a valid shortcut to objective measures.
Discussion in this paper centers around the circumstances under which unequal sample size in the two-group study arises and when the point-biserial correlation resulting therefrom should be construed as attenuated and therefore corrected. Formulas are provided for correcting the coefficient either directly or through the mediation of relevant statistics found in studies where the coefficient itself is not reported. Problems and solutions discussed in the two-group study with a single dependent or independent measure are generalized to the two-group study with two or more such measures.