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Rethinking Expertise: A Multifactorial Gene-Environment Interaction Model of Expert Performance
Abstract
Scientific interest in expertise-superior performance within a specific domain-has a long history in psychology. Although there is a broad consensus that a long period of practice is essential for expertise, a long-standing controversy in the field concerns the importance of other variables such as cognitive abilities and genetic factors. According to the influential deliberate practice theory, expert performance is essentially limited by a single variable: the amount of deliberate practice an individual has accumulated. Here, we provide a review of the literature on deliberate practice, expert performance, and its neural correlates. A particular emphasis is on recent studies indicating that expertise is related to numerous traits other than practice as well as genetic factors. We argue that deliberate practice theory is unable to account for major recent findings relating to expertise and expert performance, and propose an alternative multifactorial gene-environment interaction model of expertise, which provides an adequate explanation for the available empirical data and may serve as a useful framework for future empirical and theoretical work on expert performance. (PsycINFO Database Record
Supplementary resource (1)
... We shall review findings based on factors affecting the path to excellence. The structure of factors is aligned to the multifactorial gene-environment interaction model of Ullén et al. [2016. Rethinking expertise: A multifactorial geneenvironment interaction model of expert performance. ...
... First, recent and excellent scoping reviews or meta-analyses (Kalén et al., 2021) exist. The aim of this manuscript is to narratively review evidence from a theoretical expertise model by Ullén et al. (2016) and to clearly separate what is known about expertise in science generally and specifically from research published in the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (IJSEP). This focused approach was requested as an invited article for the special issue of the 20th anniversary of IJSEP and is based on a keynote presentation at FEPSAC 2022. ...
... In this narrative review, we introduce a not yet well-acknowledged expertise model from Ullén (2016). This model was first applied to music expertise and recently applied to sports (see, for applications in aerial skiing, Lewis et al., 2022;in canoeing, Arribas-Galarraga et al., 2020;in US college athletes, Di Fiori et al., 2019; in one-to-one sports: Fagan et al., 2019). ...
... Investigators studying individual differences in skilled performance, including chess and object recognition, have arrived at the concept of expertise to account for consistently superior skilled performance (Ericsson, 2006). Expertise has been operationalized to model the OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Marina Fiori, Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Switzerland manner in which individual differences in ability, skill, traits, intelligence, and experience interact to influence performance (e.g., Ericsson, 2004;Ackerman, 2007;Ullen et al., 2016;Logan, 2018). Following from models of expertise in other domains (Ullen et al., 2016), Figure 1 displays a simplified framework for how expertise could be used in conceptualizations of social performance. ...
... Expertise has been operationalized to model the OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Marina Fiori, Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Switzerland manner in which individual differences in ability, skill, traits, intelligence, and experience interact to influence performance (e.g., Ericsson, 2004;Ackerman, 2007;Ullen et al., 2016;Logan, 2018). Following from models of expertise in other domains (Ullen et al., 2016), Figure 1 displays a simplified framework for how expertise could be used in conceptualizations of social performance. ...
... This is the case not just in Conceptual model of the contributing factors of expertise and social performance, and their organization. Adapted from Ullen et al. (2016). ...
Human social performance has been a focus of theory and investigation for more than a century. Attempts to quantify social performance have focused on self-report and non-social performance measures grounded in intelligence-based theories. An expertise framework, when applied to individual differences in social interaction performance, offers novel insights and methods of quantification that could address limitations of prior approaches. The purposes of this review are 3-fold. First, to define the central concepts related to individual differences in social performance, with a particular focus on the intelligence-based framework that has dominated the field. Second, to make an argument for a revised conceptualization of individual differences in social-emotional performance as a social expertise. In support of this second aim, the putative components of a social-emotional expertise and the potential means for their assessment will be outlined. To end, the implications of an expertise-based conceptual framework for the application of computational modeling approaches in this area will be discussed. Taken together, expertise theory and computational modeling methods have the potential to advance quantitative assessment of social interaction performance.
... Tetris requires intelligence and skill and was speculated to benefit laparoscopic performance, although video-gaming is a non-domain aptitude. In contrast, domain-specific competence depends on genes, environment, practice, and traits in complex interactions [36]. Two previous experiments explored if expertise on Tetris transfers to measures of spatial ability [37]. ...
... Tetris-player experts surpassed non-Tetris players on mental rotation of shapes if the shapes were identical to or almost similar to those of Tetris, but did not benefit other tests of spatial ability. All in all, the results suggested that spatial expertise is highly domain-specific and does not transfer broadly to other domains [36]. ...
... Also, transfer from playing music to laparoscopic task performances in surgical novices does not occur [36]. The researchers studied the association between music practice and accuracy of motor timing and discovered that the relationship disappeared when controlling for genetics and shared environment. ...
Aim
Surgery is a craft profession requiring individuals with specific innate aptitudes for manipulative skills, visuospatial and psychomotor abilities. The selection process of surgical trainees excludes aptitude testing for the psychomotor and manual manipulative skills of candidates for required abilities. We scrutinize the effect of innate aptitudes in surgery and its skill-training by systematically reviewing its significance on the surgical task performance.
Method
A systematic review was performed by PRISMA guidelines. A search on PubMed/Medline for English language articles was performed from January 2001 to January 2021. Search terms were ‘aptitude for surgery’, ‘innate aptitude and surgical skills’, ‘manipulative abilities and surgery’ and ‘psychomotor skills and surgery’. The quality of quantitatively researched citations was assessed by MERSQI scores.
Results
The results yielded 1142 studies and 21 met the inclusion criteria and 6 high-quality citations rejected our 3-null hypothesis, and all medical students cannot reach proficiency in skills necessary for a career in surgery. Playing video games and/or musical instruments do not promote surgery skill; yet a valid test with predictive value for novices aspiring for a surgical career is helpful. MERSQI mean score was 11.07 (SD= .98; range 9.25 to 12.75).
Conclusions
Visuospatial aptitude, rate of skill acquisition and quality of surgical performance predicted baseline surgical ability. Additionally, visuospatial aptitude along with psychomotor skills and perceptual talent, furthered laparoscopic simulator performance. The selection process for candidates suitable for a career in surgery requests a simulated surgical environment, where the candidates’ skills also in forms of non-technical aptitudes are assessable.
... Experts also differ from novices in how they implement domain-relevant knowledge (Steels, 1990), and exhibit enhanced information-processing capacities (Bédard & Chi, 1992;Sternberg, 1998;Ullén et al., 2016). Whereas novices rely on surface-level perceptual features to make decisions and predictions, experts harness abstract, functional features to optimally address task demands (Bédard & Chi, 1992;Schyns et al., 1998). ...
... Scientists debate the extent to which expertise in a particular domain is due to trait-level dispositions or genetic factors (e.g., Ericsson, 2014;Plomin et al., 2014aPlomin et al., , 2014b. There is overall consensus, however, that substantial training is critical to developing expertise and that expertise can be enhanced through deliberate practice (Ullén et al., 2016). Deliberate practice involves both improving existing skills and expanding the set and scope of skills. ...
... An expert painter might seek out opportunities to work with new colors, subject matter, or materials, and might spend time learning about pigments and application techniques to create particular impressions (Ford, 2016;Protter, 1997). These processes require awareness and sustained attention (Ericsson, 2007;Ullén et al., 2016). Experts engage in reflective and careful monitoring of their domain understanding and abilities (Sternberg, 1998). ...
Expertise refers to outstanding skill or ability in a particular domain. In the domain of emotion, expertise refers to the observation that some people are better at a range of competencies related to understanding and experiencing emotions, and these competencies may help them lead healthier lives. These individual differences are represented by multiple constructs including emotional awareness, emotional clarity, emotional complexity, emotional granularity, and emotional intelligence. These constructs derive from different theoretical perspectives, highlight different competencies, and are operationalized and measured in different ways. The full set of relationships between these constructs has not yet been considered, hindering scientific progress and the translation of findings to aid mental and physical well-being. In this article, we use a scoping review procedure to integrate these constructs within a shared conceptual space. Scoping reviews provide a principled means of synthesizing large and diverse literature in a transparent fashion, enabling the identification of similarities as well as gaps and inconsistencies across constructs. Using domain-general accounts of expertise as a guide, we build a unifying framework for expertise in emotion and apply this to constructs that describe how people understand and experience their own emotions. Our approach offers opportunities to identify potential mechanisms of expertise in emotion, encouraging future research on those mechanisms and on educational or clinical interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
... Tetris requires intelligence and skill and was speculated to benefit laparoscopic performance, although video-gaming is a non-domain aptitude. In contrast, domain-specific competence depends on genes, environment, practice, and traits in complex interactions [36]. Two previous experiments explored if expertise on Tetris transfers to measures of spatial ability [37]. ...
... Tetris-player experts surpassed non-Tetris players on mental rotation of shapes if the shapes were identical to or almost similar to those of Tetris, but did not benefit other tests of spatial ability. All in all, the results suggested that spatial expertise is highly domain-specific and does not transfer broadly to other domains [36]. ...
... Also, transfer from playing music to laparoscopic task performances in surgical novices does not occur [36]. The researchers studied the association between music practice and accuracy of motor timing and discovered that the relationship disappeared when controlling for genetics and shared environment. ...
Surgery is known to be a craft profession requiring individuals with specific innate aptitude for manipulative skills, and visuospatial and psychomotor abilities. The present-day selection process of surgical trainees does not include aptitude testing for the psychomotor and manual manipulative skills of candidates for required abilities. We aimed to scrutinize the significance of innate aptitudes in surgical practice and impact of training on skills by systematically reviewing their significance on the surgical task performance. A systematic review was performed in compliance with PRISMA guidelines. An initial search was carried out on PubMed/Medline for English language articles published over 20 years from January 2001 to January 2021. Search strategy and terms to be used included ‘aptitude for surgery’, ‘innate aptitude and surgical skills, ‘manipulative abilities and surgery’, and ‘psychomotor skills and surgery’. MERSQI score was applied to assess the quality of quantitatively researched citations. The results of the present searches provided a total of 1142 studies. Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria out of which six citations reached high quality and rejected our three null hypothesis. Consequently, the result specified that all medical students cannot reach proficiency in skills necessary for pursuing a career in surgery; moreover, playing video games and/or musical instruments does not promote skills for surgery, and finally, there may be a valid test with predictive value for novices aspiring for a surgical career. MERSQI mean score was 11.07 (SD = 0.98; range 9.25–12.75). The significant findings indicated that medical students with low innate aptitude cannot reach skills necessary for a competent career in surgery. Training does not compensate for pictorial-skill deficiency, and a skill is needed in laparoscopy. Video-gaming and musical instrument playing did not significantly promote aptitude for microsurgery. The space-relation test has predictive value for a good laparoscopic surgical virtual-reality performance. The selection process for candidates suitable for a career in surgery requests performance in a simulated surgical environment.
... In a review, one of us (Ericsson, 2014) showed, however, that the performance of beginners in a domain of expertise correlates with scores on tests of general cognitive ability, whereas the performance of skilled individuals in the same domain correlates with such test scores at a dramatically reduced level and often cannot be distinguished from chance. In a subsequent review, Ullén et al. (2015) mentioned two studies that would still show significant correlations between performance on tests of general cognitive ability and performance. They cited a significant correlation between amount of deliberate practice for traditional music performance and performance on a test of working memory and sight-reading performance (Meinz and Hambrick, 2010). ...
... The expert-performance framework and the proposals by Hambrick et al. (2014), Macnamara et al. (2014) and Ullén et al. (2015) have many agreements. All of them agree that extended practice is necessary to attain expert performance and that genes in the DNA are expressed in response to practice activities, and these genes play a central role mediating the biological changes of body and nervous system. ...
... All frameworks also agree that unique genes generate individual differences that are important predictors of successful performance in some domains, such as height in many sports, and that future research in genetics might identify unique genes related to success in various domains of expertise. Our disagreement with Macnamara et al. (2014) and Ullén et al. (2015) concerns their claims of having uncovered limits for how much performance can be improved by practice, in particular that Macnamara et al. (2014) reported limits generalize to purposeful and deliberate practice. Only future empirical research will allow us to describe and measure these limits and then assess whether these potential limits will practically constrain some individuals from attaining expert performance in particular domains. ...
This issue on advanced learning focuses on the educational and developmental needs of advanced learners as they develop towards excellence. We speculated that those needs could be observed in at least three ways. The first is that the advanced learner requires educational interventions that are more closely aligned to the “deliberate practice” approach delineated by Ericsson et al. (1993). Ericsson et al. (1993) identified that the number of hours of deliberate practice differentiated among the performance levels of musicians. Deliberate practice can be described as individualised instruction whereby a teacher or coach identifies the goals and activities that need to be adopted by an individual during practice to improve their performance.
A second assumption is that advanced learners do not attain high levels of performance in the
absence of environmental factors but the factors that support the talent developmental trajectory of advanced learners will not be the same as those that support them at earlier stages. The expertise reversal effect, for example, suggests that the instructional activities designed for novices may have a detrimental effect on more advanced learners Kalyuga (2007).
The third premise is the need for more tailored and well-designed learning resources to support
talent development. Such learning resources include highly-specialised learning materials and
curricula, expert teachers and coaches, mentors, and so on, which are purposefully designed to
meet the individual’s specific needs at a specific point in the talent development process. Again, this echoes the deliberate practice approach described earlier.
... Omitting technical discussion of the mechanisms through which practice influences performance is understandable for books published for a lay audience, but more surprising is the observation of this trend in the scientific literature. Several prominent expertise scholars have published reviews that use the term "deliberate practice view" (e.g., Hambrick et al., 2014;Hambrick et al., 2018;Hambrick et al., 2020;Macnamara et al., 2014;Macnamara et al., 2016) or, alternatively, "deliberate practice theory" (e.g., Macnamara & Maitra., 2019;Ullén et al., 2016) to refer to Ericsson's views on the importance of deliberate practice for expert performance, with some going so far as to "raise serious concerns about the viability of the deliberate practice view as a scientific theory" (Hambrick et al., 2020, p. 12). But these published critiques nearly exclusively focus on deliberate practice as a predictive variable and largely disregard another critical feature of the expert performance approach: the role of mental representations. ...
... This shift has coincided with an increased focus on identifying variables that correlate with performance rather than investigating the underlying processes that mediate performance. An illustrative example is the model proposed by Ullén et al. (2016). As the authors describe it, "An essential difference between deliberate practice theory and the [multifactorial geneenvironment interaction model] is that the latter assumes, as a central tenet of the model, that expert performance can be influenced directly by a number of other variables than practice… These could potentially include different modalities of psychological individual differences-abilities, personality, interests, social attitudes, motivational variables-as well as physical traits" 2 (p. ...
It has been three decades since K. Anders Ericsson (Ericsson & Smith, 1991) proposed the expert performance approach as a general theoretical and methodological framework for studying the development of expert-level performance. Drawing on Ericsson's most recent writing, this review corrects four misconceptions about the expert performance approach that have persisted in both the popular and scientific literatures on expertise: (1) anyone can become an expert by putting in 10,000 hours of any kind of practice, (2) the expert performance approach is exclusively concerned with deliberate practice, (3) expert performers can be identified based on reputation or experience, and (4) Ericsson's claims require that a majority of the variance in performance is explained by deliberate practice. We conclude by making the case for integrating aspects of the expert performance approach into broader learning contexts, including educational and occupational environments. Such in situ experiments will mark the transition of expertise research from the basic science of describing exceptional performance to the applied science of maximizing human potential.
... Some studies have also found associations between musical expertise and the regional anatomy of the hippocampus (Groussard et al., 2010Vaquero et al., 2016). These findings are potentially interesting since the hippocampus, apart from its well-known involvement in episodic memory and spatial cognition, has also been implicated in motor sequence learning ( Jacobacci et al., 2020;Schendan et al., 2003) and expert working memory, that is, experts' expanded working memory capacity specifically for stimuli encountered in their domain of expertise (Guida et al., 2012;Ullén et al., 2016). ...
... A comprehensive discussion of different models of expert working memory from a cognitive science perspective can be found in (Gobet, 2016). Neurophysiologically, expert working memory presumably relies on efficient interactions between neural systems for working memory and longterm memory (Ericsson & Kintsch, 1995;Gobet, 2016;Ullén et al., 2016Ullén et al., , 2019. Although much progress has been made through studies on adaptations in the visual system in response to complex visual stimuli (see e.g., Bilalić et al., 2011;McGugin et al., 2014), the neural mechanisms of expert working memory in general remain relatively poorly understood. ...
... While acknowledging the important role of environmental and genetic factors for talent development, they are not specified within the TAD framework depiction. The impact of these factors can be seen through the psychological lens of the person, as for example by the way individuals engage with the opportunities they receive and the support they gain from others (for models including environmental and genetic factors, see Ullén, Hambrick, &Mosing, 2016). ...
... While acknowledging the important role of environmental and genetic factors for talent development, they are not specified within the TAD framework depiction. The impact of these factors can be seen through the psychological lens of the person, as for example by the way individuals engage with the opportunities they receive and the support they gain from others (for models including environmental and genetic factors, see Ullén, Hambrick, &Mosing, 2016). ...
We present a model for talent development in music that resulted from applying a general framework for Talent development in Achievement Domains (i.e., the TAD framework; Preckel et al., 2020) to the domain of music. The talent development model in the musical domain (TAD music model) draws on the existing literature on musical talent development but also specifies a rigorous framework drawn from empirical research that can be used to identify predictors and indicators of musical talent. The TAD music model provides a multidimensional, dynamic view of talent development in music. Cognitive abilities, personality traits, and psychosocial skills that can potentially serve as predictors at different levels of talent development in music are suggested. The TAD music model can be used to further understandings about the nature of musical talent and its development, for the construction of diagnostic procedures, for empirical investigations of talent development in music, for the training of music teachers’ diagnostic skills, and for the identification and promotion of musically talented children.
... Therefore, it was used as the springboard for the TAD framework. Similar syntheses are also provided by other authors (e.g., in the multifactorial gene-environment interaction model by Ullén et al., 2016). However, the megamodel includes a developmental (long-term) perspective that is needed to describe talent development in different achievement domains. ...
... Rather, their impact is assessed through the psychological lens of the person (e.g., by an individual's report of his or her experience-producing drives or the opportunities realized by the person). For models including environmental and genetic factors, see Gagné and McPherson (2016) and Ullén et al. (2016). ...
... Although they are taught fundamentals of skiing and landing on skis, it is assumed that their acrobatic skills and athletic ability will transfer from gymnastics to aerial skiing. 2 Whilst there is some evidence of broad transfer of expertise between sports, 3,4 there has been little consideration of transfer as a key factor in the development of overall expertise in a given sport. 5,6 Instead, researchers have investigated either transfer of isolated skills between sports, such as anticipation 7 and motor execution, 8 or transfer of coordination patterns within a sport between different contexts 9 and tasks. 10 From these studies, it seems that transfer of sport specific skills is difficult to predict and depends on the precise skill being transferred as well as the characteristics of the contexts and/or tasks that the skill is being transferred between. ...
... Whilst there is evidence that a high level of expertise in their current sport facilitates athletes transferring skills to other sports, 6,7 it is unclear whether such transfer occurs because of adaptation of the skills themselves or of the abilities underlying the skills. 5 In part, this is due to a lack of research examining the physical adaptations that support positive transfer of skill. 12 As a result, there is little evidence on how to train athletes transferring between sports to either optimize physical performance or prevent injury whilst facilitating the development of expertise in nontrained tasks. ...
Australian aerial skiers are recruited from other acrobatic sports through a nationally coordinated transition program. However, there is limited understanding of how to train transferring athletes for both optimal performance and injury prevention. The aim of this study was to test whether an athletic profile could be used to identify which skills that gymnasts possess are more and less likely to transfer to aerial skiing based on similarities and differences in the athletes’ physical attributes. Six elite female aerial skiers and five state- and national-level female gymnasts completed a test protocol involving drop-landing, countermovement jump, isokinetic strength of the knee flexors and extensors, flexibility and anthropometrical profile. Aerial skiers and gymnasts had an anthropometrical profile ideal for acrobatic efficiency, but gymnasts had smaller thigh girth and greater knee range of motion. These results suggest that gymnasts are more likely to succeed in transferring to aerial skiing's acrobatic skills than skiing and landing skills. We suggest that gymnasts transferring to aerial skiing undertake pretransfer training designed to improve hamstring isometric strength and dynamic stability of the knee to reduce the risk of knee injury and improve their ability to maintain a crouched position.
... Existing theories of deliberate practice and expertise (Ericsson et al., 1993) are currently debated with respect to potential genetic predispositions that may lead to increased musical expertise. In support of the role of genetic predispositions in developing expertise, it has been suggested that athletes and musicians may possess increased audio and visual perceptual acuity that may result in improved fine motor control development (Herholz et al., 2015;Hosoda & Furuya, 2016;Ullén et al., 2016). Investigations into auditory and beat detection (e.g., testing neural sound discrimination responses in preschool children with and without music training/ exposure; testing auditory discrimination against spatial representation, phoneme processing, perceptual reasoning, and inhibition control measures longitudinally in early school-age children; Linnavalli et al., 2018;Putkinen et al., 2019), and of speed and strength in world-class athletes (Lombardo & Deaner, 2014), suggest that innate neural discrimination sensitivity to auditory and visual stimuli may facilitate and impact motor training and development of music expertise (Furuya, 2018;Hambrick et al., 2018). ...
... In our study, ED displayed greater consistency and adaptability across a wider range of tempi, supporting previous findings within rapid tapping literature (McManus et al., 1986;Peters & Pang, 1992;Toma et al., 2002).Those who start younger and practice for a greater number of hours develop a greater exposure to drumming. While high exposure to practice is an accepted principle of skill development (Ericsson et al., 1993), it is increasingly acknowledged that this is not sufficient for developing professional performance precision and expertise (Furuya, 2018;Ullén et al., 2016). Increased practice, however, may improve audio-visual and haptic feedback during practice and performance, enabling improved playing strategies to be found, perhaps with greater muscular economy and motor control. ...
Background:
High-speed drumming requires precise control over the timing, velocity, and magnitude of striking movements.
Aim:
To examine effects of tempo and expertise on unaccented repetitive drumming performance using 3D motion capture.
Methods:
Expert and amateur drummers performed unimanual, unaccented, repetitive drum strikes, using their dominant right hand, at five different tempi. Performance was examined with regard to timing variability, striking velocity variability, the ability to match the prescribed tempo, and additional variables.
Results:
Permutated multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) revealed significant main effects of tempo (p < .001) and expertise (p <.001) on timing variability and striking velocity variability; low timing variability and low striking velocity variability were associated with low/medium tempo as well as with increased expertise. Individually, improved precision appeared across an optimum tempo range. Precision was poorest at maximum tempo (400 hits per minute) for precision variables.
Conclusions:
Expert drummers demonstrated greater precision and consistency than amateurs. Findings indicate an optimum tempo range that extends with increased expertise.
... Fortunately, or as evolution would have it, essentially all physical and psychological traits, including beliefs and values, are a product of nature as well as nurture (Ge, Chen, Neale, Sabuncu, & Smoller, 2017;Plomin, DeFries, Knopik, & Neiderhiser, 2016). Consequently both vocational interests and expertise are the result of an intricate interplay between genetic and environmental factors (Lykken, Bouchard Jr., McGue, & Tellegen, 1993;Ullén, Hambrick, & Mosing, 2016). To give an example, characteristics such as physical constitution, cognitive ability, and personality may determine the probability of success in a particular activity; a negative outcome will typically decrease interest for further attempts while a positive outcome and positive feedback will be rewarding and increase the motivation for continued efforts; thus a process of specialization may begin, which not only involves knowledge and skill acquisition, but also a refinement of the personal characteristics that promoted success in the first place. ...
... First, practice has been described as the main or even the only factor that determines performance outcomes at the professional level (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Römer, 1993), but it is clear from the present findings that practice is not the only, or even the strongest predictor of musical achievements. This fits well with meta-analyses on expertise that promote multifactorial models to better account for real life data Macnamara, Hambrick, & Oswald, 2014;Ullén et al., 2016). Second, practice does provide a unique contribution to creative achievement. ...
Previous research shows that individuals choose careers based on the relative strengths of various traits. More debated however, is how specific combinations of traits predict individual differences in professional achievements. General intelligence is often proposed to be the best predictor of eminence, but some studies suggest that more specific traits can be relatively important when performance depends on specific skills and expertise. Here we identified a comprehensive set of variables relevant for music achievement (intelligence, auditory ability, absolute pitch, Big-five personality traits, psychosis proneness, music flow proneness, childhood environment and music practice), and tested how they predicted level of musicianship (non-musicians vs. amateur musicians vs. professional musicians) and number of achievements among professional musicians. We used web survey data from a total of 2150 individuals, and generalized additive models that can also reveal non-linear relationships. The results largely confirmed our three main hypotheses: (i) non-musicians, amateur musicians, and professional musicians are best differentiated by domain specific abilities, personality traits, and childhood factors; (ii) largely the same significant predictors are also associated with the number of creative achievements within professional musicians; (iii) individuals who reach a professional level in two domains (here science and music) possess the union of the relevant traits of both domains. In addition, many of the associations between predictors and achievement were non-linear. This study confirms that in music, and potentially in other occupational fields where performance relies on specific competences, domain relevant characteristics may be better predictors of engagement and creative achievement than broad traits.
... Expert musicians, who often specialize in certain areas and can be ascribed specific roles such as singers, conductors, and instrumentalists, have devoted extraordinary amounts of time to musical practice and thus provide a model for the effects of long-term training on brain and behavior (Herholz & Zatorre, 2012;Schlaug, 2001). Moreover, investigating individual differences in music expertise can help to elucidate the interplay between genetic predisposition and experience (Mosing, Madison, Pedersen, Kuja-Halkola, & Ullén, 2014;Niarchou et al., 2019;Ullén, Hambrick, & Mosing, 2016). ...
... While the former refers to potential levels of music ability before formal training and education, the latter refers to attained levels of music abilities (Zentner & Gingras, 2019). It needs to be kept in mind, however, that music expertise appears to emanate from the interplay of genetic endowment and environmental factors Ullén et al., 2016); hence, music expertise and music aptitude are not orthogonal but interrelated. In the following, we review already existing tests that assess music ability in one or the other way. ...
WE INTRODUCE THE BERLIN GEHOERBILDUNG SCALE (BGS), a multidimensional assessment of music expertise in amateur musicians and music professionals. The BGS is informed by music theory and uses a variety of testing methods in the ear-training tradition, with items covering four different dimensions of music expertise: (1) intervals and scales, (2) dictation, (3) chords and cadences, and (4) complex listening. We validated the test in a sample of amateur musicians, aspiring professional musicians, and students attending a highly competitive music conservatory (n ¼ 59). Using structural equation modeling, we compared two factor models: a unidimensional model postulating a single factor of music expertise; and a hierarchical model, according to which four first-order subscale factors load on a second-order factor of general music expertise. The hierarchical model showed better fit to the data than the unidimen-sional model, indicating that the four subscales capture reliable variance above and beyond the general factor of music expertise. There were reliable group differences on both the second-order general factor and the four sub-scales, with music students outperforming aspiring professionals and amateur musicians. We conclude that the BGS is an adequate measurement instrument for assessing individual differences in music expertise, especially at high levels of expertise.
... As with most complex abilities, adult musical skill is the product of genetic and environmental contributions that interact with each other in multiple ways. Genes encode a constellation of predispositions that contribute to specific abilities and these predispositions interact with the environment to passively and actively influence the development of skills (Sauce and Matzel 2018;Ullen et al. 2016). Genes also control neural and physical maturation, such that different brain networks and their related functions have developmental peaks at different ages (Fjell et al. 2019;Hensch and Quinlan 2018;Werker and Hensch 2015). ...
... Based on current data and drawing on existing models (Ullen et al. 2016;Werker and Hensch 2015;Voss et al. 2017;Kuhl 2010), we propose a multidimensional genematuration-environment framework for understanding the development of musical skill (See Fig. 3). We have discussed this model in previous work (Penhune 2011(Penhune , 2020 and have developed it further here. ...
Adult ability in complex cognitive domains, including music, is commonly thought of as the product of gene-environment interactions, where genetic predispositions influence and are modulated by experience, resulting in the final phenotypic expression. Recently, however, the important contribution of maturation to gene-environment interactions has become better understood. Thus, the timing of exposure to specific experience, such as music training, has been shown to produce long-term impacts on adult behaviour and the brain. Work from our lab and others shows that musical training before the ages of 7-9 enhances performance on musical tasks and modifies brain structure and function, sometimes in unexpected ways. The goal of this paper is to present current evidence for sensitive period effects for musical training in the context of what is known about brain maturation and to present a framework that integrates genetic, environmental and maturational influences on the development of musical skill. We believe that this framework can also be applied more broadly to understanding how predispositions, brain development and experience interact.
... Music training uniquely involves long-term highly specific motor learning, often begins early in age, and involves error learning and multisensory feedback [1,2]. However, genetic differences may influence both the likelihood of becoming a musician and the effects of music-induced plasticity [3]. The Val66Met Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor single nucleotide polymorphism (rs6265) (Val66Met BDNF SNP) is a common mutation present in 25-30% of the general population [4] that is associated with possible deficits in motor learning and neuroplasticity [5][6][7]. ...
... Alternatively, it is possible that Met-dependent deficits alone are mild and not enough to elicit training-dependent deficits in musicians, requiring for example other genetic abnormalities to express [3]. Although the genetics of musical motor timing have been explored [41], the genetics of musical motor learning are not known. ...
The study compared the prevalence of the Val66Met Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor single nucleotide polymorphism (rs6265) in a sample of musicians (N = 50) to an ethnically matched general population sample from the 1000 Human Genome Project (N = 424). Met-carriers of the polymorphism (Val/Met and Met/Met genotypes) are typically present in 25–30% of the general population and have associated deficits in motor learning and plasticity. Many studies have assessed the benefits of long-term music training for neuroplasticity and motor learning. This study takes a unique genetic approach investigating if the prevalence of the Val66Met BDNF polymorphism, which negatively affects motor learning, is significantly different in musicians from the general population. Our genotype and allele frequency analyses revealed that the distribution of the Val66Met polymorphism was not significantly different in musicians versus the general population (p = 0.6447 for genotype analysis and p = 0.8513 allele analysis). In the Musician sample (N = 50), the prevalence of the Val/Met genotype was 40% and the prevalence of the Met/Met genotype was 2%. In the 1000 Human Genome Project subset (N = 424), the prevalence of Val/Met was 33.25% and the Met/Met genotype prevalence was 4%. Therefore, musicians do exist with the Val66Met polymorphism and the characteristics of long-term music training may compensate for genetic predisposition to motor learning deficits. Since the polymorphism has significant implications for stroke rehabilitation, future studies may consider the implications of the polymorphism in music-based interventions such as Neurologic Music Therapy.
... Certainly, potential and opportunity are needed. However, developing and sustaining conceptually demanding, high-impact careers, especially those wherein individuals are entrusted with vast amounts of economic and human resources, require considerations well beyond developing sophisticated professional expertise (Ullen et al., 2016). For the career and life outcomes in which we are interested in this study, career development needs to be conceptualized as a component of life because individuals differ on how much time they are willing to devote to it versus other activities (Hakim, 2017;Pinker, 2008;Rhoads, 2004;Rhoads & Rhoads, 2012), even under the best conditions (see Lubinski & Benbow, 2021, Figures 7 and 8). ...
To understand divergent and remarkable lives lived, we examined the accomplishments, family dynamics, life orientation, psychological well-being, and definition of a meaningful life among two exceptional groups at age 50: Top Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) doctoral students (270 males, 255 females, originally surveyed in their mid-20s) and profoundly gifted adolescents (263 males, 71 females, top 0.01% in ability, first studied at age 12). The creativity and occupational stature of both cohorts were extraordinary and commensurate. Life priorities, time allocation, and breadth of interests created paths that differed for women and men, resulting in contrasting, but equally exceptional, life outcomes across career, life, and relationship satisfaction. Distinct constellations of personal attributes of intellectually and scientifically brilliant women, relative to such men, operated to form satisfying and productive lives that differed for the women and men as a whole. Findings cast light on the participation of women and men in STEM and conceptually demanding leadership positions.
... Lastly, even the age at which children start music training, often considered a purely environmental decision taken by the parents and regarded as a potential causal predictor of good music skills in adulthood, was partly influenced by genetic factors (39%) . Results from these studies show that genetics plays a substantial role for almost all music-related traits and behaviors and have led to a shift in understanding the etiology of expertise, away from the deliberate practice theory, and towards the development of the multifactorial gene-environment interaction model (MGIM) (Ullén et al., 2016). Central features of this model are that expertise in music L.W. Wesseldijk et al. and other domains depend on many factors apart from practice at the phenotypic level, and that gene-environment interplay plays a crucial role for expertise acquisition. ...
The first part of this review provides a brief historical background of behavior genetic research and how twin and genotype data can be utilized to study genetic influences on individual differences in human behavior. We then review the field of music genetics, from its emergence to large scale twin studies and the recent, first molecular genetic studies of music-related traits. In the second part of the review, we discuss the wider utility of twin and genotype data beyond estimating heritability and gene-finding. We present four examples of music studies that utilized genetically informative samples to analyze causality and gene-environmental interplay for music skills. Overall, research in the field of music genetics has gained much momentum over the last decade and its findings highlight the importance of studying both environmental and genetic factors and particularly their interplay, paving the way for exciting and fruitful times to come.
... All topics listed in Table 1 represent well-known and well-investigated strands of the literature on prior knowledge. Lines of research investigating knowledge acquisition and learning missing from the topic list are research on the relation between intelligence and knowledge (Watrin et al., 2022), studies on the acquisition of skills and expert performance (Ullén et al., 2015), research on infants' core knowledge (Spelke & Kinzler, 2007), and studies on psychoeducation and psychotherapy . Studies on these topics were in our database, but they were so rare that our algorithm did not detect them as separate topics. ...
Understanding the role of prior knowledge in human learning is essential for predicting, improving, and explaining competence acquisition. However, the size and breadth of this field make it difficult for researchers to glean a comprehensive overview. Hence, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of 13,507 relevant studies published between 1980 and 2021. Abstracts, titles, and metadata were analyzed using text mining and network analysis. The studies investigated 23 topics forming five communities: Education, Learning Environments, Cognitive Processes, Nonacademic Settings, and Language. The investigated knowledge was diverse regarding its types, characteristics, and representations, covering more than 25 academic and non-academic content domains. The most frequently referenced theoretical backgrounds were the 3P Model, Cognitive Load Theory, and Conceptual Change approaches. While our results indicate that prior knowledge is a widely used cross-sectional research topic, there remains a need for more integrative theories of when and how prior knowledge causally affects learning.
... The number of domains studied has continued to expand, although there has been a greater focus on those who have already acquired high levels of expertise. Models have also been developed which take account of the complexity of the factors involved, for instance, multifactorial gene-environment interaction models Ullén et al., 2016). The models stress gene-environment interplay, including gene-environment interaction (when the magnitude of genetic influence on an outcome varies as a function of the type or amount of an environmental experience) and gene-environment correlation (when individuals experience different environments as a systematic function of their genetic differences rather than randomly). ...
Ways in which research into university teaching and student learning originated and developed over a forty-year period are illustrated by following a single line of research conducted by the author and his colleagues. The early research drew heavily on established psychological concepts, such as ability, motivation, and personality, to predict degree outcomes using inventories with statistical analysis. Subsequently, this approach was combined with in-depth interviews with individual students, which provided insights into distinctive approaches to learning and studying. The nature of academic understanding was also explored with students who explained the techniques they had used to remember what they had understood. Later, the research on student learning was expanded to explore the influences of teaching, and of the whole teaching-learning environment on students’ levels of knowledge and understanding, and on their feelings. Finally, problems in conveying research findings to university teachers are considered and directions of future research are suggested.
... Specific examples of each factor are listed in italics under the bolded headings. For more information on neural mechanisms, see Ullen, Hambrick, and Mosing (2016), listed under "key sources." ...
Musical expertise exists along a continuum, with some musicians demonstrating far greater mastery than others. What accounts for this variability in skill? Could anyone, given the right conditions, reach a level of skill necessary to play for a first-rank orchestra? As a more extreme example, could anyone compose a symphonic masterpiece or play the piano like the finest virtuoso? In this chapter, we examine the origins of musical expertise. Moving beyond an anachronistic “nature vs. nurture” debate, we adopt a multifactorial approach to show how genetic and environmental influences entwine to support expert performance. We discuss a number of factors underpinning individual differences in expertise, including practice, intelligence, music aptitude, motivation, starting age, perseverance, parents, and teachers. We close by offering suggestions for music performers based on our review of the literature. Understanding the origins of musical expertise will allow musicians to match their strengths to their pursuits and come closer to maximizing their potential.
... Expertise development is understood as a process involving sustained engagement and accumulated experience acquisition in the domain over time (Ericsson, 2008;Gruber, 1999;Tynjälä, 2013). This process takes place through an individual's interaction with the environment described through structural as well as socio-cultural factors (Tynjälä, 2013;Ullén et al., 2016). These factors shape work practices, which in turn affect how a workplace supports or hinders individual engagement (Billett, 2001) and thus learning and expertise development by providing access to complex tasks, feedback, guidance, and so forth. ...
Expertise is featured by continued high performance in a particular domain. Expertise research has primarily focused on absolute expertise in structured domains such as chess and emphasized the significance of deliberate practice for expertise development. We investigated the development of relative expertise in commercial domains as part of ill-structured domains. Due to the ill-structuredness and acknowledging the use of the term expert in organizational practice, we developed a taxonomy to distinguish between four types of experts in the broader sense (relative expert, managerial relative expert, evolved specialist, and native specialist). Eighteen peer-nominated individuals from business-to-business sales departments from four German organizations participated in our interview study. A content analysis was applied using both deductive and inductive categorizations. The interview data clearly corresponds to the concept of progressive problem solving rather than to the concept of deliberate practice. Almost all our respondents referred to either “being thrown in at the deep end” by others (assigned complex tasks) or “jumping in at the deep end” of one’s own accord (self- selected complex tasks). However, the interview partners described features of deliberate practice for novices. In this very early stage of expertise development, more experienced colleagues structure parts of the ill-structured domain and enable deliberate practice while for advanced beginners and later stages expert development rather resembles progressive problem solving. Our results provide implications on how to foster expertise development in ill-structured domains. Possible limitations arise from the small sample, the peer-nomination process, and the retrospective nature of interview data.
... This possibility is plausible because musically trained and untrained individuals differ in many ways in addition to training. Pre-existing cognitive, personality and socioeconomic factors might determine who takes music lessons (Schellenberg, 2020b), and twin studies show that genetic factors account for many aspects of musical behavior and achievement, including propensity for music practice, musical abilities, choice of musical instrument and genre, and associations between music practice and musical abilities (McPherson, 2016;Mosing et al., 2014;Mosing and Ullén, 2018;Ullén et al., 2016). ...
It is often claimed that music training improves auditory and linguistic skills. Results of individual studies are mixed, however, and most evidence is correlational, precluding inferences of causation. Here, we evaluated data from 62 longitudinal studies that examined whether music training programs affect behavioral and brain measures of auditory and linguistic processing (N = 3928). For the behavioral data, a multivariate meta-analysis revealed a small positive effect of music training on both auditory and linguistic measures, regardless of the type of assignment (random vs. non-random), training (instrumental vs. non-instrumental), and control group (active vs. passive). The trim-and-fill method provided suggestive evidence of publication bias, but meta-regression methods (PET-PEESE) did not. For the brain data, a narrative synthesis also documented benefits of music training, namely for measures of auditory processing and of speech and prosody processing. Thus, the available literature provides evidence that music training produces small neurobehavioral enhancements in auditory and linguistic processing, although future studies are needed to confirm that such enhancements are not due to publication bias.
... While the deliberate practice theory claims that the accumulation of hours of practice is the sole determinant of expert performance (Ericsson et al., 1993), others have shown practice alone to be insufficient to explain individual differences in ability Hambrick et al., 2016;Kragness et al., 2020;Macnamara et al., 2014;Macnamara & Maitra, 2019;. Studies highlight the importance of psychological factors such as personality traits (Butkovic et al., 2015;Corrigall et al., 2013;Corrigall & Schellenberg, 2015) and cognitive ability (Corrigall et al., 2013;Lynn et al., 1989;Meinz & Hambrick, 2010;Mosing et al., 2019;Schellenberg & Weiss, 2013;Sergeant & Vhatcher, 1974;Swaminathan & Schellenberg, 2018;, as well as the role of genetic factors (Hambrick & Tucker-Drob, 2015;Kragness et al., 2020;Ullén et al., 2016;Ullén et al., 2014) in skill acquisition. ...
The relationship between pitch-naming ability and childhood onset of music training is well established and thought to reflect both genetic predisposition and music training during a critical period. However, the importance of the amount of practice during this period has not been investigated. In a population sample of twins (N = 1447, 39% male, 367 complete twin pairs) and a sample of 290 professional musicians (51% male), we investigated the role of genes, age of onset of playing music and accumulated childhood practice on pitch-naming ability. A significant correlation between pitch-naming scores for monozygotic (r = .27, p < .001) but not dizygotic twin pairs (r = -.04, p = .63) supported the role of genetic factors. In professional musicians, the amount of practice accumulated between ages 6 and 11 predicted pitch-naming accuracy (p = .025). In twins, age of onset was no longer a significant predictor once practice was considered. Combined, these findings are in line with the notion that pitch-naming ability is associated with both genetic factors and amount of early practice, rather than just age of onset per se. This may reflect a dose-response relation between practice and pitch-naming ability in genetically predisposed individuals. Alternatively, children who excel at pitch-naming may have an increased tendency to practice.
... This possibility is plausible because musically trained and untrained individuals differ in many ways in addition to training. Pre-existing cognitive, personality and socioeconomic factors might determine who takes music lessons (Schellenberg, 2020b), and twin studies show that genetic factors account for many aspects of musical behavior and achievement, including propensity for music practice, musical abilities, choice of musical instrument and genre, and associations between music practice and musical abilities (McPherson, 2016;Mosing et al., 2014;Mosing and Ullén, 2018;Ullén et al., 2016). ...
It is often claimed that music training improves auditory and linguistic skills. Results of individual studies are mixed, however, and most evidence is correlational, precluding inferences of causation. Here, we evaluated data from 62 longitudinal studies that examined whether music training programs affect behavioral and brain measures of auditory and linguistic processing (N = 3928). For the behavioral data, a multivariate meta-analysis revealed a small positive effect of music training on both auditory and linguistic measures, regardless of the type of assignment (random vs. non-random), training (instrumental vs. non-instrumental), and control group (active vs. passive). The trim-and-fill method provided suggestive evidence of publication bias, but meta-regression methods (PET-PEESE) did not. For the brain data, a narrative synthesis also documented benefits of music training, namely for measures of auditory processing and of speech and prosody processing. Thus, the available literature provides evidence that music training produces small neurobehavioral enhancements in auditory and linguistic processing, although future studies are needed to confirm that such enhancements are not due to publication bias.
... Here, we provide one of the first direct tests that examines how static differences in DNA sequence are associated with the dynamic process of learning. Theoretically, the concept of the "reaction norm" describes how genetic variation is more appropriately thought of as governing a dynamic phenotypic response to environmental input, rather than as governing a fixed end state [9][10][11] . Yet theoretical reaction norm conceptions have rarely been tested vis-à-vis complex human phenotypes like cognition. ...
Cognitive performance is both heritable and sensitive to environmental inputs and sustained practice over time. However, it is currently unclear how genetic effects on cognitive performance change over the course of learning. We examine how polygenic scores (PGS) created from genome-wide association studies of educational attainment and cognitive performance are related to improvements in performance across nine cognitive tests (measuring perceptual speed, working memory, and episodic memory) administered to 131 adults (N = 51, ages = 20–31, and N = 80, ages = 65–80 years) repeatedly across 100 days. We observe that PGS associations with performance on a given task can change over the course of learning, with the specific pattern of change in associations differing across tasks. PGS correlations with pre-test to post-test scores may mask variability in how soon learning occurs over the course of practice. The associations between PGS and learning do not appear to simply reconstitute patterns of association between baseline performance and subsequent learning. Associations involving PGSs, however, were small with large confidence intervals. Intensive longitudinal research such as that described here may be of substantial value for clarifying the genetics of learning when implemented as far larger scale.
... The deliberate practice theory proposes that extensive experience in a domain does not guarantee expert levels of performance. Deliberate practice, defined as explicit, effortful, goal-directed activities that are specifically designed to improve performance, is critical for expert performance (Ericsson, 2006;Ullen et al., 2016). According to the view of deliberate practice, daily multitasking experience may not necessarily lead to improvement in multitasking performance as people may not engage in multitasking with explicit effort or intention to improve the performance. ...
Research showed mixed findings regarding the relationships between daily multitasking experience and laboratory multitasking performance. One measurement issue was the low reliability and validity of using a single measurement for daily multitasking experience. Another measurement issue was the popular use of simple laboratory paradigms that may or may not capture well cognitive processes underlying real-life multitasking. The current study revisited the relationship between daily multitasking experience and multitasking performance with a better design. Multiple measurements were used to ensure good reliability and validity. This included a mobile phone task switching measurement - an arguably better proxy for daily multitasking experience and three realistic multitasking paradigms that mimic real life multitasking situations. The results showed that (1) phone switching was not significantly associated with the media multitasking index, suggesting that they were measuring different aspects of multitasking experience; (2) indicators of the multitasking performance were moderately correlated among themselves, suggesting that different realistic multitasking paradigms were measuring overlapping multitasking abilities; and, intriguingly, (3) no significant association between multitasking experience and performance indicators was found. One possibility is that people can only benefit from daily multitasking practice when they engaged in daily multitasking activities with an intention to improve the performance. Other possibilities and implications were also discussed.
... A common problem that experts face is how to overcome the ceiling effects on the sensorimotor skills for which they are highly trained. A possible reason why this problem has not yet been solved is a lack of understanding of the bottlenecks that hinder experts' ability to improve their motor expertise, despite extensive arguments on the roles of genetic predisposition and deliberate practicing in the proficiency of these individuals 24 . A previous study demonstrated a relationship between somatosensory-motor integration functions and keystroke skills in expert pianists 7 . ...
We perceive the external world through both externally generated and self-generated sensory stimuli (i.e., passive and active perception). While the performance in passive perception is improved by training or repetition through the functional and structural reorganization of the central nervous system (i.e., perceptual learning), the mechanisms by which perceptual learning occurs in active perception remain unclear. Here, we sought to explore the mechanisms underlying the improvement of active somatosensory perception and sensorimotor skills through active perceptual learning. Because we previously found that active perceptual learning depends on the expertise of the motor task to be performed, this study focused primarily on trained individuals. To this end, active haptic training (AHT) that targets the active somatosensory perception during the piano keystroke was used as a means of inducing active perceptual learning. We found four main results. First, participants actively modulated the muscle coordination patterns to optimize the movements required by the task through AHT without any explicit instruction on it by the experimenter, suggesting the involvement of active exploration in active perceptual learning. Second, AHT increased the relative reliance on afferent sensory information relative to the predicted one during the piano keystroke. Third, perceptual sensitivity of externally generated keystroke motions remained unchanged through AHT. Finally, AHT improved feedback control of repetitive keystroke movements in expert pianists. These results suggest that active perceptual learning involves changes in both the predictive integration process and active exploration and that the improved feedback control of fine movements benefits from the improvement in active perception.
Significant statement
Our ability to perceive both externally generated and self-generated sensory stimuli can be enhanced through training, known as passive and active perceptual learning. Here, we sought to explore the mechanisms underlying active perceptual learning by using active haptic training (AHT), which has been demonstrated to enhance the somatosensory perception of a finger in a trained motor skill. First, AHT reorganized the muscular coordination during the piano keystroke. Second, AHT increased the relative reliance on afferent sensory information relative to predicted one, in contrast to no increment of overall perceptual sensitivity. Finally, AHT improved feedback movement control of keystrokes. These results suggest that active perceptual learning involves active exploration and adaptation of predictive sensory integration, which underlies the co-enhancement of active perception and feedback control of movements.
... In fact, he considers that heritable individual differences and psychological factors related with personality may predispose individuals toward deliberate prac ce as well as allow them to sustain very high levels of it for extended periods of me. In this sense, Stankov (2000) and Schweizer, cogni ve ability, because deliberate prac ce requires sustained a9en on and metacogni on, both of which are correlated with intelligence (cited in Ullén et al. (2015). ...
A parallelism is established between the concept of Metacognition, Deliberate Practice and the game of Chess
... The high stability of individual differences in domain-specific knowledge suggests that the differences are aggregated over months or years of learning and are thus hard to change during short periods of time, such as in instructional interventions. This supports the theoretical approaches emphasizing the long-term nature of domainspecific knowledge acquisition, such as learning-trajectory approaches (Clements & Sarama, 2004) and theories of strategy change (Siegler & Svetina, 2002), skill-building (Bailey et al., 2018), conceptual change or conceptual development (diSessa et al., 2004;Keil, 1996;Vosniadou et al., 2008), and the acquisition of expert performance (Ericsson & Charness, 1994;Ull en et al., 2016). ...
It is often hypothesized that prior knowledge strongly predicts learning performance. It can affect learning positively mediated through some processes and negatively mediated through others. We examined the relation between prior knowledge and learning in a meta-analysis of 8776 effect sizes. The stability of individual differences, that is, the correlation between pretest and posttest knowledge, was high (rP = .534). The predictive power of prior knowledge for learning, i.e., the correlation between pretest knowledge and normalized knowledge gains, was low (rNG = .059), almost normally distributed, and had a large 95% prediction interval [-.688, .621]. This strong variability falsifies general statements such as “knowledge is power” as well as “the effect of prior knowledge is negligible.” It calls for systematic research on the conditions under which prior knowledge has positive, negative, or negligible effects on learning. This requires more experiments on the processes mediating the effects of prior knowledge and thresholds for useful levels of prior knowledge.
... The major difference between experts and novices in one field seems to lie in deliberate practice . Through practice and with the influence of genetical and environemental factors, they develop physical properties and cognitive mechanisms to improve performances (Ullen, Hambrick, & Mosing, 2016). It is this repeated confrontation to fields' events that brings individuals to develop some aspects of themselves. ...
Dans cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés au raisonnement et à la capacité décisionnelle des experts. A l’exception d’une étude qui est composée de deux populations expertes différentes (Joueurs d’échecs et joueurs de Go), nous nous sommes concentrés sur la population d’expert du jeu d’échecs. Notre objectif initial était de montrer l’influence de certains processus émotionnels dans les décisions expertes. Dans ce travail, nous nous sommes intéressés aux liens pouvant être établis entre la théorie des marqueurs somatiques et les théories en psychologie de l’expertise. Notre idée est que les marqueurs somatiques offrent un cadre intéressant afin d’étudier et de comprendre les performances expertes.Nous avons tout d’abord étudié les capacités de prise de décision générales des experts, en dehors de leur champ d’expertise, à l’aide d’un test spécialement créé pour étudier les marqueurs somatiques (Iowa Gambling Task ; IGT) et d’autres épreuves se focalisant sur les aspects de décision ambiguë (Balloon Analog Risk Task ; BART) et en connaissance des risques (Game of Dice Task ; GDT). L’objectif était de voir si les joueurs d’échecs sont meilleurs que les novices dans ces tâches et de mieux comprendre le type de contexte décisionnel pouvant amener les joueurs experts à dépasser les capacités de la population générale. Nous observons que la prise de décision des experts est meilleure principalement dans le cadre de l’IGT. Ainsi, contrairement à ce qui apparait parfois dans la littérature, les performances des joueurs d’échecs ne semblent pas se limiter exclusivement à leur domaine d’expertise.Nous avons ensuite étudié les décisions des experts au sein de leur domaine de compétence. Nous avons ainsi réalisé deux études utilisant des positions d’échecs. Il s’agit d’une tâche d’amorçage et d’une adaptation de l’effet d’Einstellung (ou effet d’attitude). L’objectif de ces études était d’observer l’influence du traitement automatique des positions sur la performance des joueurs d’échecs. Nos résultats semblent indiquer que les experts procèdent à un traitement automatique des positions pouvant amener à l’activation de schémas et procédures de résolution spécifiques à la situation. Cet activation automatique peut entraîner une amélioration des performances pouvant aller jusqu’à la mise en place d’une décision intuitive pour les joueurs experts. Mais celle-ci peut également venir perturber la décision des joueurs en focalisant leur attention sur des aspects moins pertinents de la situation.Pour ce qui concerne les compétences générales des experts, en dehors de leur champ d’expertise, les résultats obtenus semblent indiquer une utilisation efficace de la voie émotionnelle de la décision responsable de l’activation des marqueurs somatiques. Dans les études menées dans le domaine d’expertise, la théorie des marqueurs somatiques permettrait également, selon nous, d’expliquer les différents modes de décision des experts. Nous proposerons donc dans cette thèse un modèle des décisions expertes incluant la modalité somatique.En résumé, nos résultats semblent indiquer que la théorie des marqueurs somatiques est un cadre interprétatif intéressant pour les décisions expertes. Ces marqueurs sont reliés à de précédentes situations ayant provoqué une réaction émotionnelle et pourraient venir assister les décisions experts dans et hors de leur domaine d’expertise. Néanmoins, de plus amples recherches, incluant des mesures physiologiques, doivent être menées afin de confirmer l’intérêt des marqueurs somatiques dans la décision experte.
... Third, we suggest that there is great potential in further expanding our research focus by exploring the novel antecedents and outcomes of CS and virtues. In terms of antecedents, scholars may seek inspiration in the extensive work on the individual and environmental factors that influence the development of personality (Wrzus and Roberts, 2016), or talent and expertise (Gagné, 2015;Ullén et al., 2016). In terms of outcomes, we would like to emphasize ambitions previously delineated for positive psychology (Seligman, 2019) and encourage research that looks beyond the benefits of CS for individual well-being and functioning, to explore benefits for relationships, groups, communities, society, and our planet. ...
Although we have many important areas of agreement with Sackett and colleagues, we must address two issues that form the backbone of their article "Revisiting the design of selection systems in light of new findings regarding the validity of widely used predictors." First, we explain why range restriction corrections in concurrent validation are appropriate, describing the conceptual basis for range restriction corrections, and highlighting some pertinent technical issues that should elicit skepticism about the focal article's assertions. Second, we disagree with the assertion that the operational validity of cognitive ability is much lower than previously reported. We conclude with some implications for applied practice.
This volume offers a wide array of cutting-edge original research on the implementation of Foreign Language Pedagogy in translator and interpreter training, a still rather unexplored field of research in Translation Studies. It is divided in two distinct sections. The first section focuses on theoretical approaches to this topic. The chapters of this section will offer the reader valuable new knowledge and thoughts on how to update and enrich academic curricula as well as how to make use of cognitive linguistics and to implement a multicultural approach in the demanding domain of translator and interpreter training. The second practical section comprises a series of diverse methods and didactical means of Foreign Language Pedagogy which are creatively adapted to fit in language and translation/interpreting teaching for translation/interpreting trainees, aiming at fostering their translational sub-competences. The volume’s overarching aim is to clearly emphasise that foreign language teaching for translation and interpreting trainees has to be approached and structured differently than conventional language teaching in other academic disciplines. It is useful for scholars and translation/interpreting teachers who want to enrich translator/interpreter training with new interdisciplinary ideas and knowledge which will significantly assist them in enhancing the translation/interpreting competence of their students.
Das Kapitel „Perzeptuelle Expertise im Sport“ stellt überblicksartig den Forschungsstand zur Wahrnehmung bei sportlichen Spitzenleistungen dar. Nach der Erläuterung des Expertiseansatzes werden verschiedene Forschungsideen, strukturiert nach der taktischen Situationskomplexität, vorgestellt. Zunächst wird die perzeptuelle Expertise in einer 1:0-Situation und anschließend in individual- und mannschaftstaktischen Aufgaben aufgezeigt. Zuletzt werden Umwelteinflüsse thematisiert. Abschließend werden weitere Forschungsfelder dargestellt. Dieser Beitrag ist Teil der Sektion Sportmotorik, herausgegeben von den Teilherausgebern Alfred Effenberg und Gerd Schmitz, innerhalb des Handbuchs Sport und Sportwissenschaft, herausgegeben von Arne Güllich und Michael Krüger.
Recent research relating to the development of expertise has tended to focus on very high level expertise or the many factors which are important in its development. In formal educational contexts the model of domain learning is particularly relevant for understanding learning. Conceptual change research has evolved from a focus on misconceptions to exploring issues related to professional development. Research on epistemological beliefs, metacognition, self-regulation, and beliefs about the nature of intelligence has clarified several issues. Change between learning environments continues to be challenging for some learners with the groups at risk of not fulfilling their potential remaining relatively stable. A key issue for those engaged in educational psychology is how to influence policy which can negatively impact on expertise development, particularly in relation to structured ability grouping, the curriculum and assessment procedures the latter ensuring that a large proportion of children are doomed to failure.
Quantitative genetics analysis of autism according to sex hormones
To further our understanding of the genetics of musicality, we explored associations between a polygenic score for self-reported beat synchronization ability (PGS rhythm ) and objectively measured rhythm discrimination, as well as other validated music skills and music-related traits. Using family data, we were able to further explore potential pathways of direct genetic, indirect genetic (through passive gene–environment correlation) and confounding effects (such as population structure and assortative mating). In 5648 Swedish twins, we found PGS rhythm to predict not only rhythm discrimination, but also melody and pitch discrimination (betas between 0.11 and 0.16, p < 0.001), as well as other music-related outcomes ( p < 0.05). In contrast, PGS rhythm was not associated with control phenotypes not directly related to music. Associations did not deteriorate within families (N = 243), implying that indirect genetic or confounding effects did not inflate PGS rhythm effects. A correlation ( r = 0.05, p < 0.001) between musical enrichment of the family childhood environment and individuals' PGS rhythm , suggests gene–environment correlation. We conclude that the PGS rhythm captures individuals' general genetic musical propensity, affecting musical behavior more likely direct than through indirect or confounding effects.
Zusammenfassung
Nur wenige Langzeitstudien beschreiben bislang musikalische Entwicklungsverläufe mit einem Fokus auf Begabungsforschung (Müllensiefen 2017). Diese Lücke will der vorliegende Beitrag schließen und anhand der Daten aus einer internationalen Langzeitstudie die Frage beantworten, wie hilfreich unterschiedliche Begabungsansätze für die Modellierung musikalischer Entwicklung sind. Dabei soll untersucht werden, wie sich verschiedene Definitionen musikalischer Begabung und deren statistische Umsetzung auf die Identifikation musikalisch Begabter auswirken. Hierfür werden klassische Begabungskriterien nach Gagné (1998) und der TAD-Ansatz (Preckel et al. 2020) zur Klassifizierung der Studienteilnehmer/innen verwendet und die Ergebnisse miteinander verglichen. In beiden Ansätzen erweisen sich fluide Intelligenz, Arbeitsgedächtniskapazität, die Persönlichkeitsdimension Offenheit und der Glaube an die Veränderbarkeit von Musikalität durch Training als robuste Prädiktoren. Als zentraler Unterschied zeigt sich, dass die perzeptuellen musikalische Fähigkeiten der Begabten, die nach traditionellen Kriterien ausgewählt wurden, ab dem ersten Messzeitpunkt sinkt. Die Ergebnisse werden mit Referenz auf das Phänomen der Regression zur Mitte diskutiert und legen nahe, dass die Analyse von Langzeitdaten unter Berücksichtigung des TAD-Ansatzes einen geeigneteren Ansatz für Entscheidungen über die musikalische Begabung von Jugendlichen darstellen.
Music is a complex system consisting of many dimensions and hierarchically organized information—the organization of which, to date, we do not fully understand. Network science provides a powerful approach to representing such complex systems, from the social networks of people to modelling the underlying network structures of different cognitive mechanisms. In the present research, we explored whether network science methodology can be extended to model the melodic patterns underlying expert improvised music. Using a large corpus of transcribed improvisations, we constructed a network model in which 5-pitch sequences were linked depending on consecutive occurrences, constituting 116,407 nodes (sequences) and 157,429 edges connecting them. We found that the network exhibited structural properties that resemble “scale-free” networks (i.e., networks with degree distribution following a power law). We then investigated whether mathematical graph modeling relates to musical characteristics in real-world listening situations via a behavioral experiment paralleling those used to construct semantic networks in language. We found that as distance within the network increased, participants judged melodic sequences as less related. Moreover, the relationship between distance and reaction time (RT) judgments was quadratic: participants slowed in RT up to distance four, then accelerated; a parallel finding to research in language networks. This study offers insights into the hidden network structure of improvised tonal music and suggests that humans are sensitive to the property of melodic distance in this network.
Für das zuverlässige Erreichen hoher musikalischer Leistungen (musikalische Expertise) spielen die Frühzeitigkeit des Beginns und die Dauer der Übung eine entscheidende Rolle. Die Ergebnisse unserer Analysen zeigen, dass die Teilnehmenden des Bundeswettbewerbs im Durchschnitt wöchentlich etwas über sieben Stunden üben. Zum Zeitpunkt ihrer Teilnahme erhielten sie rund acht Jahre Unterricht auf dem Wettbewerbsinstrument. Begonnen haben sie in einem Alter von etwas über sieben Jahren. Auf den Wettbewerb vorbereitet wurde die Hälfte der Befragten durch Lehrpersonen an VdM-Musikschulen. Der Anteil an Befragten, die von Hochschullehrenden vorbereitet wurden, erweist sich als geringer als in anderen Studien. In Bezug auf die wöchentliche Übezeit zeigen sich Instrumenten- und altersspezifische Unterschiede, Unterschiede nach Wertungskategorien sowie Unterschiede zwischen Teilnehmenden mit erstmaliger und mehrfacher Wettbewerbsteilnahme. Zudem besteht ein schwacher positiver Zusammenhang zwischen der gewöhnlichen Übezeit und der Bereitschaft der Eltern, Geld und Zeit für den Musikunterricht zu investieren. Eine Hilfs- oder Kontrollfunktion zum Üben haben die Eltern nur bei einem Teil der Befragten, ein Zusammenhang mit der Übezeit besteht jedoch nicht. In Bezug auf die musikalische Begabung zeigt sich ein schwacher positiver Zusammenhang zwischen der selbsteingeschätzten musikalischen Begabung und der Übezeit. Diejenigen mit einer höheren Einschätzung ihrer musikalischen Begabung üben länger und diejenigen, die viel üben, schätzen die Anforderungen des Wettbewerbs etwas geringer ein. Allerdings zeigen sich die Befragten hinsichtlich der Einschätzung ihrer musikalischen Begabung eher bescheiden. Sie verorten sich zwar im Bereich überdurchschnittlicher Begabungen, es wählten allerdings nur knapp ein Viertel der Befragten die höchsten zwei Skalenpunkte. Den höchsten Durchschnittswert in der selbst eingeschätzten musikalischen Begabung weisen die Teilnehmenden der Solowertung Pop auf.
The call for teacher improvement has long been advocated in educational circles. Hargreaves & Fullan asserted it takes 8 years to reach the highest level. The important direct relationship of teacher effectiveness to student achievement was summarized by John Hattie. Many pathways to developing teacher effectiveness have been explored. A unique body of literature exploring expertise and it acquisition led to the articulation of deliberate practice theory with application in the domains of chess, music, medical training, and professional domains. Although a robust set of reviews have synthesized knowledge of deliberate practice in other domains, a comparable review could not be found in the field of education. Therefore, this chapter synthesizes the literature applying deliberate practice theory to the cultivation of teacher effectiveness.
The paper is looking at recent publications on musical abilities suggesting the most promising trends for future research. Musical abilities and talent are the most revealing for the whole agenda of giftedness; therefore, it’s easier to see the most arguable points and accents characterizing scholarly discussion in abilities’ and talent discourse. In the first place, this discussion is the hardest addressing the idea of «deliberate practice» that is now declining but used to be very influential in the end of XXth — beginning of the XXI century. «Deliberate practice» had been invented to deny and reject the very notion of giftedness as an inborn psychological category. Secondly, contemporary psychology of musical giftedness and talent gives the leading role to motivation, inner need in music making and bio-evolutionary psychological resources at the expense of more traditional cognitive abilities like pitch, rhythm and musical memory. The author argues that motivational and emotionally based factors are the clue to the concept of musical talent and creativity. Summarizing contemporary psychology of music research, the author joins the nativist approach to musical abilities’ discourse and suggests finding the new foundation for musical talent’s development beyond cognitive resources of human mind and its traditionally accepted measurements.
Despite Cognitive Translation Studies’ (CTS) interest in didactic applications, the actual impact of research on training programs has been modest in comparison with the advances made in terms of methodology, theoretical sophistication and expansion of the object of study. It is argued that the modest impact of CTS on training originates, on the one hand, in an epistemological problem – one of mild incommensurability – and, on the other, on the difficulty of developing realistic cognitive task models. Adopting constructs and models in CTS and didactics that share an embodied, extended view on cognition may contribute to fitting empirical data and describing skill development. To that end, a sketch of a template to develop translation task models is presented for discussion.
Research into the development of musical imagery ability has remained stagnant in both the fields of aural skills pedagogy and cognitive science. This article integrates scholarship from both disciplines to provide a way forward for both the study and practice of imagery development. Analysis of North American pedagogical practices provides a foundation for the types and functions of activities used to affect imagery ability, while newly designed measurement techniques in the cognitive sciences are shown to have promising implications for assessing change in imagery ability over time. Following consideration of insights from both fields, this article consolidates them by developing a model of imagery development. Framed through the lens of expertise acquisition and skilled memory performance, this model has implications for approaches to imagery in the aural skills classroom and for empirical studies of imagery development in music cognition.
he term flow originates from studies on what motivates people to devote more time to activities – across both work and play settings – than could be expected based on external rewards such as money or fame. The main underlying reason appears to be the intrinsically rewarding subjective experience of flow. Flow refers to a psychological state of high but subjectively effortless attention, low self–awareness, sense of control and enjoyment that can occur during the performance of tasks that are challenging but matched in difficulty to the skill level of the person. This chapter gives an introduction to flow that focuses on the prerequisites and phenomenology of effortless attention, and how the flow experience relates to perception, cognition, and action. Flow and creativity are discussed in particular detail, centering on three hypotheses of how flow may relate to creative cognition; as a motivating factor for task engagement and skill acquisition, as a feedback signal for optimal task-based adaptation, and as relying on similar psychological and neural underpinnings. Lastly, the need for more basic research and applied research is discussed – the former on the relation between flow states and the quality of creative performance and the latter on how the concept of flow could be implemented successfully in training and education.
Es wird eine Parallelität zwischen dem Konzept der Metakognition, dem Absichtsvollem Üben und dem Schachspiel vorgeschlagen.
Humans vary considerably in their ability to perform and learn new motor skills. In addition, they respond to different performance and practice conditions in varying ways. Historically, experimental psychologists have characterized these differences as ‘experimental noise’, yet for those who embrace differential psychology, the study of individual differences promises to deepen insights into the processes that mediate motor control and learning. In this paper, we highlight what we know about predicting motor learning based on individual difference characteristics and renew a call made by Lee Cronbach several decades ago to combine the methodologies used by experimental and differential psychologists to further our understanding of how to promote motor learning. The paper provides a brief historical overview of research on individual differences and motor learning followed by a systematic review of the last 20 years of research on this issue. The paper ends by highlighting some of the methodological challenges associated with conducting research on individual differences, as well as providing suggestions for future research. The study of individual differences has important implications for furthering our understanding of motor learning and when tailoring interventions for diverse learners at different stages of practice.
We sought to establish norms and correlates for the Musical Ear Test (MET), an objective test of musical ability. A large sample of undergraduates at a Canadian university (N > 500) took the 20-min test, which provided a Total score as well as separate scores for its Melody and Rhythm subtests. On each trial, listeners judged whether standard and comparison auditory sequences were the same or different. Norms were derived as percentiles, Z-scores, and T-scores. The distribution of scores was approximately normal without floor or ceiling effects. There were no gender differences on either subtest or the total score. As expected, scores on both subtests were correlated with performance on a test of immediate recall for nonmusical auditory stimuli (Digit Span Forward). Moreover, as duration of music training increased, so did performance on both subtests, but starting lessons at a younger age was not predictive of better musical abilities. Listeners who spoke a tone language exhibited enhanced performance on the Melody subtest but not on the Rhythm subtest. The MET appears to have adequate psychometric characteristics that make it suitable for researchers who seek to measure musical abilities objectively.
From an early age, musicians learn complex motor and auditory skills (e.g., the translation of visually perceived musical symbols into motor commands with simultaneous auditory monitoring of output), which they practice extensively from childhood throughout their entire careers. Using a voxel-by-voxel morphometric technique, we found gray matter volume differences in motor, auditory, and visual-spatial brain regions when comparing professional musicians (keyboard players) with a matched group of amateur musicians and non-musicians. Although some of these multiregional differences could be attributable to innate predisposition, we believe they may represent structural adaptations in response to long-term skill acquisition and the repetitive rehearsal of those skills. This hypothesis is supported by the strong association we found between structural differences, musician status, and practice intensity, as well as the wealth of supporting animal data showing structural changes in response to long-term motor training. However, only future experiments can determine the relative contribution of predisposition and practice.
Does the structure of an adult human brain alter in response to environmental demands? Here we use whole-brain magnetic-resonance imaging to visualize learning-induced plasticity in the brains of volunteers who have learned to juggle. We find that these individuals show a transient and selective structural change in brain areas that are associated with the processing and storage of complex visual motion. This discovery of a stimulus-dependent alteration in the brain's macroscopic structure contradicts the traditionally held view that cortical plasticity is associated with functional rather than anatomical changes.
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.
ISME Research Commission Published in Council for Research in Music Education, 1999
Despite a century of research on complex traits in humans, the relative importance and specific nature of the influences of genes and environment on human traits remain controversial. We report a meta-analysis of twin correlations and reported variance components for 17,804 traits from 2,748 publications including 14,558,903 partly dependent twin pairs, virtually all published twin studies of complex traits. Estimates of heritability cluster strongly within functional domains, and across all traits the reported heritability is 49%. For a majority (69%) of traits, the observed twin correlations are consistent with a simple and parsimonious model where twin resemblance is solely due to additive genetic variation. The data are inconsistent with substantial influences from shared environment or non-additive genetic variation. This study provides the most comprehensive analysis of the causes of individual differences in human traits thus far and will guide future gene-mapping efforts. All the results can be visualized using the MaTCH webtool.
Claims of beneficial side effects of music training are made for many different abilities, including verbal and visuospatial abilities, executive functions, working memory, IQ, and speech perception in particular. Such claims assume that music training causes the associations even though children who take music lessons are likely to differ from other children in music aptitude, which is associated with many aspects of speech perception. Music training in childhood is also associated with cognitive, personality, and demographic variables, and it is well established that IQ and personality are determined largely by genetics. Recent evidence also indicates that the role of genetics in music aptitude and music achievement is much larger than previously thought. In short, music training is an ideal model for the study of gene-environment interactions but far less appropriate as a model for the study of plasticity. Children seek out environments, including those with music lessons, that are consistent with their predispositions; such environments exaggerate preexisting individual differences.
© 2015 New York Academy of Sciences.
Two experiments plus a pilot investigated the role of melodic structure on short-term memory for musical notation by musicians and nonmusicians. In the pilot experiment, visually similar melodies that had been rated as either "good" or "bad" were presented briefly, followed by a 15-sec retention interval and then recall. Musicians remembered good melodies better than they remembered bad ones: nonmusicians did not distinguish between them. In the second experiment, good, bad, and random melodies were briefly presented, followed by immediate recall. The advantage of musicians over nonmusicians decreased as the melody type progressed from good to bad to random. In the third experiment, musicians and nonmusicians divided the stimulus melodies into groups. For each melody, the consistency of grouping was correlated with memory performance in the first two experiments. Evidence was found for use of musical groupings by musicians and for use of a simple visual strategy by nonmusicians. The nature of these musical groupings and how they may be learned are considered. The relation of this work to other studies of comprehension of symbolic diagrams is also discussed.
Previous research into the effects of action video gaming on cognition has suggested that long term exposure to this type of game might lead to an enhancement of cognitive skills that transfer to non-gaming cognitive tasks. However, these results have been controversial. The aim of the current study was to test the presence of positive cognitive transfer from action video games to two cognitive tasks. More specifically, this study investigated the effects that participants' expertise and genre specialization have on cognitive improvements in one task unrelated to video gaming (a flanker task) and one related task (change detection task with both control and genre-specific images). This study was unique in three ways. Firstly, it analyzed a continuum of expertise levels, which has yet to be investigated in research into the cognitive benefits of video gaming. Secondly, it explored genre-specific skill developments on these tasks by comparing Action and Strategy video game players (VGPs). Thirdly, it used a very tight experiment design, including the experimenter being blind to expertise level and genre specialization of the participant. Ninety-two university students aged between 18 and 30 (M = 21.25) were recruited through opportunistic sampling and were grouped by video game specialization and expertise level. While the results of the flanker task were consistent with previous research (i.e., effect of congruence), there was no effect of expertise, and the action gamers failed to outperform the strategy gamers. Additionally, contrary to expectation, there was no interaction between genre specialization and image type in the change detection task, again demonstrating no expertise effect. The lack of effects for game specialization and expertise goes against previous research on the positive effects of action video gaming on other cognitive tasks.
Musical aptitude is commonly measured using tasks that involve discrimination of different types of musical auditory stimuli. Performance on such different discrimination tasks correlates positively with each other and with intelligence. However, no study to date has explored these associations using a genetically informative sample to estimate underlying genetic and environmental influences. In the present study, a large sample of Swedish twins (N = 10,500) was used to investigate the genetic architecture of the associations between intelligence and performance on three musical auditory discrimination tasks (rhythm, melody and pitch). Phenotypic correlations between the tasks ranged between 0.23 and 0.42 (Pearson r values). Genetic modelling showed that the covariation between the variables could be explained by shared genetic influences. Neither shared, nor non-shared environment had a significant effect on the associations. Good fit was obtained with a two-factor model where one underlying shared genetic factor explained all the covariation between the musical discrimination tasks and IQ, and a second genetic factor explained variance exclusively shared among the discrimination tasks. The results suggest that positive correlations among musical aptitudes result from both genes with broad effects on cognition, and genes with potentially more specific influences on auditory functions.
Driving is a complex behavior that requires the integration of multiple cognitive functions. While many studies have investigated brain activity related to driving simulation under distinct conditions, little is known about the brain morphological and functional architecture in professional competitive driving, which requires exceptional motor and navigational skills. Here, 11 professional racing-car drivers and 11 “naïve” volunteers underwent both structural and functional brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Subjects were presented with short movies depicting a Formula One car racing in four different official circuits. Brain activity was assessed in terms of regional response, using an Inter-Subject Correlation (ISC) approach, and regional interactions by mean of functional connectivity. In addition, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to identify specific structural differences between the two groups and potential interactions with functional differences detected by the ISC analysis. Relative to non-experienced drivers, professional drivers showed a more consistent recruitment of motor control and spatial navigation devoted areas, including premotor/motor cortex, striatum, anterior, and posterior cingulate cortex and retrosplenial cortex, precuneus, middle temporal cortex, and parahippocampus. Moreover, some of these brain regions, including the retrosplenial cortex, also had an increased gray matter density in professional car drivers. Furthermore, the retrosplenial cortex, which has been previously associated with the storage of observer-independent spatial maps, revealed a specific correlation with the individual driver's success in official competitions. These findings indicate that the brain functional and structural organization in highly trained racing-car drivers differs from that of subjects with an ordinary driving experience, suggesting that specific anatomo-functional changes may subtend the attainment of exceptional driving performance.
Significance
Differences among children in educational achievement are highly heritable from the early school years until the end of compulsory education at age 16, when UK students are assessed nationwide with standard achievement tests [General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)]. Genetic research has shown that intelligence makes a major contribution to the heritability of educational achievement. However, we show that other broad domains of behavior such as personality and psychopathology also account for genetic influence on GCSE scores beyond that predicted by intelligence. Together with intelligence, these domains account for 75% of the heritability of GCSE scores. These results underline the importance of genetics in educational achievement and its correlates. The results also support the trend in education toward personalized learning.
What are the effects of chess training-especially on scholastic achievement among school-aged students? Can chess instruction facilitate the acquisition of scholastic competency? The current state of the research literature is that chess training tends not to provide educational benefits. This article provides a critical review of research on the effects of chess training on the scholastic achievement levels of school-aged students.
In many daily activities, and especially in sport, it is necessary to predict the effects of others' actions in order to initiate appropriate responses. Recently, researchers have suggested that the action-observation network (AON) including the cerebellum plays an essential role during such anticipation, particularly in sport expert performers. In the present study, we examined the influence of task-specific expertise on the AON by investigating differences between two expert groups trained in different sports while anticipating action effects. Altogether, 15 tennis and 16 volleyball experts anticipated the direction of observed tennis and volleyball serves while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The expert group in each sport acted as novice controls in the other sport with which they had only little experience. When contrasting anticipation in both expertise conditions with the corresponding untrained sport, a stronger activation of AON areas (SPL, SMA), and particularly of cerebellar structures, was observed. Furthermore, the neural activation within the cerebellum and the SPL was linearly correlated with participant's anticipation performance, irrespective of the specific expertise. For the SPL, this relationship also holds when an expert performs a domain-specific anticipation task. Notably, the stronger activation of the cerebellum as well as of the SMA and the SPL in the expertise conditions suggests that experts rely on their more fine-tuned perceptual-motor representations that have improved during years of training when anticipating the effects of others' actions in their preferred sport. The association of activation within the SPL and the cerebellum with the task achievement suggests that these areas are the predominant brain sites involved in fast motor predictions. The SPL reflects the processing of domain-specific contextual information and the cerebellum the usage of a predictive internal model to solve the anticipation task.
Playing a musical instrument is associated with numerous neural processes that continuously modify the human brain and may facilitate characteristic auditory skills. In a longitudinal study, we investigated the auditory and neural plasticity of musical learning in 111 young children (aged 7–9 y) as a function of the intensity of instrumental practice and musical aptitude. Because of the frequent co-occurrence of central auditory processing disorders and attentional deficits, we also tested 21 children with attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder [AD(H)D]. Magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalography revealed enlarged Heschl's gyri and enhanced right–left hemi-spheric synchronization of the primary evoked response (P1) to harmonic complex sounds in children who spent more time practicing a musical instrument. The anatomical characteristics were positively correlated with frequency discrimination, reading, and spelling skills. Conversely, AD(H)D children showed reduced volumes of Heschl's gyri and enhanced volumes of the plana temporalia that were asso-ciated with a distinct bilateral P1 asynchrony. This may indicate a risk for central auditory processing disorders that are often associated with attentional and literacy problems. The longitudinal comparisons revealed a very high stability of auditory cortex morphology and gray matter volumes, suggesting that the combined anatomical and functional parameters are neural markers of musicality and attention deficits. Educational and clinical implications are considered.
The relative importance of nature and nurture for various forms of expertise has been intensely debated. Music proficiency is viewed as a general model for expertise, and associations between deliberate practice and music proficiency have been interpreted as supporting the prevailing idea that long-term deliberate practice inevitably results in increased music ability. Here, we examined the associations (rs = .18-.36) between music practice and music ability (rhythm, melody, and pitch discrimination) in 10,500 Swedish twins. We found that music practice was substantially heritable (40%-70%). Associations between music practice and music ability were predominantly genetic, and, contrary to the causal hypothesis, nonshared environmental influences did not contribute. There was no difference in ability within monozygotic twin pairs differing in their amount of practice, so that when genetic predisposition was controlled for, more practice was no longer associated with better music skills. These findings suggest that music practice may not causally influence music ability and that genetic variation among individuals affects both ability and inclination to practice.
Long-term musical expertise has been shown to be associated with a number of functional and structural brain changes, making it an attractive model for investigating use-dependent plasticity in humans. Physiological interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) as examined by transcranial magnetic stimulation has been shown to be correlated with anatomical properties of the corpus callosum as indexed by fractional anisotropy (FA). However, whether or not IHI or the relationship between IHI and FA in the corpus callosum can be modified by different musical training regimes remains largely unknown. We investigated this question in musicians with different requirements for bimanual finger movements (piano and string players) and non-expert controls. IHI values were generally higher in musicians, but differed significantly from non-musicians only in string players. IHI was correlated with FA in the posterior midbody of the corpus callosum across all participants. Interestingly, subsequent analyses revealed that this relationship may indeed be modulated by different musical training regimes. Crucially, while string players had greater IHI than non-musicians and showed a positive structure-function relationship, the amount of IHI in pianists was comparable to that of non-musicians and there was no significant structure-function relationship. Our findings indicate instrument specific use-dependent plasticity in both functional (IHI) and structural (FA) connectivity of motor related brain regions in musicians.
Deliberate practice (DP) is a task-specific structured training activity that plays a key role in understanding skill acquisition and explaining individual differences in expert performance. Relevant activities that qualify as DP have to be identified in every domain. For example, for training in classical music, solitary practice is a typical training activity during skill acquisition. To date, no meta-analysis on the quantifiable effect size of deliberate practice on attained performance in music has been conducted. Yet the identification of a quantifiable effect size could be relevant for the current discussion on the role of various factors on individual difference in musical achievement. Furthermore, a research synthesis might enable new computational approaches to musical development. Here we present the first meta-analysis on the role of deliberate practice in the domain of musical performance. A final sample size of 13 studies (total N = 788) was carefully extracted to satisfy the following criteria: reported durations of task-specific accumulated practice as predictor variables and objectively assessed musical achievement as the target variable. We identified an aggregated effect size of r c = 0.61; 95% CI [0.54, 0.67] for the relationship between task-relevant practice (which by definition includes DP) and musical achievement. Our results corroborate the central role of long-term (deliberate) practice for explaining expert performance in music.
Does Cogmed working-memory training (CWMT) work? Independent groups of reviewers have come to what appears to be starkly different conclusions to this question, causing somewhat of a debate within scientific and popular media. Here, various studies, meta-analyses, and reviews of the Cogmed research literature will be considered to provide an overview of our present understanding regarding the effects of CWMT. These will particularly be considered in light of two recent critical reviews published by Melby-Lervåg and Hulme (201329.
Melby-Lervåg , M. , &
Hulme , C. ( 2013 ). Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review . Developmental Psychology , 49 , 270 – 291 . [CrossRef], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®]View all references) and Shipstead, Hicks, and Engle (201238.
Shipstead , Z. ,
Hicks , K. L. , &
Engle , R. W. ( 2012 ). Cogmed working memory training: Does the evidence support the claims? . Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition , 1 , 185 – 193 . [CrossRef]View all references) and their arguments and conclusions assessed against current available evidence. Importantly we describe how the conclusions drawn by Melby-Lervåg and Hulme appear to contradict their own findings. In fact, the results from their meta-analysis show highly significant effects of working-memory (WM) training on improving visuospatial WM and verbal WM (both ps < .001). In addition, analyses of long-term follow-ups show that effects on visuospatial WM remain significant over time (again at p < .001). Thus, the analyses show that WM is indeed improved using WM training, and the highest effect sizes are achieved using CWMT (compared with other training programs). We also conclude that there is current evidence from several studies using different types of outcome measures that shows attention can be improved following CWMT. In a little more than a decade, there is evidence that suggests that Cogmed has a significant impact upon visual-spatial and verbal WM, and these effects generalize to improved sustained attention up to 6 months. We discuss the evidence for improvements in academic abilities and conclude that although some promising studies are pointing to benefits gained from CWMT, more controlled studies are needed before we can make strong and specific claims on this topic. In conclusion, we find that there is a consensus in showing that WM capacity and attention is improved following CWMT. Due to the importance of WM and attention in everyday functioning, this is, on its own, of great potential value.
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.
Theories of skilled performance that emphasize training history, such as K. Anders Ericsson and colleagues' deliberate-practice theory, have received a great deal of recent attention in both the scientific literature and the popular press. Twin studies, however, have demonstrated evidence for moderate-to-strong genetic influences on skilled performance. Focusing on musical accomplishment in a sample of over 800 pairs of twins, we found evidence for gene-environment correlation, in the form of a genetic effect on music practice. However, only about one quarter of the genetic effect on music accomplishment was explained by this genetic effect on music practice, suggesting that genetically influenced factors other than practice contribute to individual differences in music accomplishment. We also found evidence for gene-environment interaction, such that genetic effects on music accomplishment were most pronounced among those engaging in music practice, suggesting that genetic potentials for skilled performance are most fully expressed and fostered by practice.
Using in-vivo magnetic resonance morphometry it was investigated whether the midsagittal area of the corpus callosum (CC) would differ between 30 professional musicians and 30 age-, sex- and handedness-matched controls. Our analyses revealed that the anterior half of the CC was significantly larger in musicians. This difference was due to the larger anterior CC in the subgroup of musicians who had begun musical training before the age of 7. Since anatomic studies have provided evidence for a positive correlation between midsagittal callosal size and the number of fibers crossing through the CC, these data indicate a difference in interhemispheric communication and possibly in hemispheric (a)symmetry of sensorimotor areas. Our results are also compatible with plastic changes of components of the CC during a maturation period within the first decade of human life, similar to those observed in animal studies.
Despite a century's worth of research, arguments surrounding the question of whether far transfer occurs have made little progress toward resolution. The authors argue the reason for this confusion is a failure to specify various dimensions along which transfer can occur, resulting in comparisons of "apples and oranges." They provide a framework that describes 9 relevant dimensions and show that the literature can productively be classified along these dimensions, with each study situated at the intersection of Various dimensions. Estimation of a single effect size for far transfer is misguided in view of this complexity. The past 100 years of research shows that evidence for transfer under some conditions is substantial, but critical conditions for many key questions are untested.
This chapter describes the progress made toward understanding chess skill. It describes the work on perception in chess, adding some new analyses of the data. It presents a theoretical formulation to characterize how expert chess players perceive the chess board. It describes some tasks that correlate with chess skill and the cognitive processes of skilled chess players. It is believed that the demonstration of de Groot's, far from being an incidental side effect of chess skill, actually reveals one of the most important processes that underlie chess skill—the ability to perceive familiar patterns of pieces. In the first experiment discussed in the chapter, two tasks were used. The memory task was very similar to de Groot's task: chess players saw a position for 5 seconds and then attempted to recall it. Unlike de Groot, multiple trials were used—5 seconds of viewing followed by recall—until the position was recalled perfectly. The second task or the perception task for simplicity involved showing chess players a position in plain view.
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.
This chapter deals with (a) motor interhemispheric exchanges (transfer of learning), (b) visuo-motor interhemispheric exchanges (Poffenberger's paradigm), (c) bimanual motor coordination, and (d) auditivo-motor coordination. At a behavioral level, studies in transfer of motor learning show an asymmetry in favour of the left hand (following a right hand learning) in right-hander. Poffenberger's paradigm suggests that interhemispheric transfer can occur at several sites. Studies on bimanual coordination systematically report that the functional temporal coupling of homologous muscles is more stable than the coupling of non homologous muscles. Finally, as far as the auditivo-motor coordination is concerned, the behavior is more stable when the response is synchronized, as opposed to syncopated, with the stimulus. At the level of the cerebral activities, motor interhemispheric exchanges in the Poffenberger's paradigm involve frontal motor areas. Bimanual movements are associated with bilateral activation of primary sensorimotor structures, with the same intensity as for unilateral movements. Additionally, they involve median motor areas whose level of activity appears equal or superior to the one observed in unimanual activities. Some of the processes required in order to synchronize bimanual movements could be lateralized in the dominant hemisphere, the time lag observed between hands corresponding to the callosal transmission time. The functional coupling of non homologous muscles is characterized by an increase in cerebral activity, not only limited to the median motor areas but spreading to the right premotor cortex and, bilaterally, to the sensorimotor cortices. Finally, the syncopated auditivo-motor coordination involves a higher level of cerebral activities than the synchronized one.
The idea of far transfer effects in the cognitive sciences has received much attention in recent years. One domain where far transfer effects have frequently been reported is music education, with the prevailing idea that music practice entails an increase in cognitive ability (IQ). While cross-sectional studies consistently find significant associations between music practice and IQ, randomized controlled trials, however, report mixed results. An alternative to the hypothesis of cognitive transfer effects is that some underlying factors, such as shared genes, influence practice behaviour and IQ causing associations on the phenotypic level. Here we explored the hypothesis of far transfer within the framework of music practice. A co-twin control design combined with classical twin-modelling based on a sample of more than 10,500 twins was used to explore causal associations between music practice and IQ as well as underlying genetic and environmental influences. As expected, phenotypic associations were moderate (r = 0.11 and r = 0.10 for males and females, respectively). However, the relationship disappeared when controlling for genetic and shared environmental influences using the co-twin control method, indicating that a highly practiced twin did not have higher IQ than the untrained co-twin. In line with that finding, the relationship between practice and IQ was mostly due to shared genetic influences. Findings strongly suggest that associations between music practice and IQ in the general population are non-causal in nature. The implications of the present findings for research on plasticity, modularity, and transfer are discussed.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
The purposes of this study were twofold: to examine the relationship of two types of motivational belief to undergraduates' self-reported musical practice behavior, and to evaluate the adaptation of measures of academic motivation to the musical domain. Measures of a tripartite goal orientation and implicit theory of musical ability were completed by 344 instrumental music majors at American universities. Factor analysis showed the adapted items reproduced the subscales of the original measures, and that these subscales were reliable (α >.74). Entity theories of musical ability were positively correlated with ego-approach (r =.16, p <.01) and ego-avoid goals (r =.23, p <.001), and negatively related to task goals (r = -.14, p <.01). A researcher-designed practice strategy survey found task orientation positively related to frequency of six of seven practice factors; ego-approach and ego-avoid goals negatively related to one strategy type. Copyright
Objectives: A speeded video-based decision-making training intervention was used to assess the impact of above real time training on decision-making skill in sport. Design and methods: Three groups completed pre tests and either five weeks of fast speed video training, normal speed video training or no training, followed by a post test and two retention tests in subsequent weeks. Decision accuracy was measured by awarding three, two, one, or no point(s) based on independent coach ratings of each situation. Results: Results revealed that those trained in above real time improved performance earlier in the. training intervention compared to those trained in normal speed. The above real time group also retained more of the performance improvements. The transfer test for decision accuracy showed improvement following the training intervention for all groups, trends in the data reflected a higher retention rate for the fast speed group choosing the bet option more frequently than normal and control groups. Conclusions: The results lend support to the general use of video-based decision-making training for team invasion sports. A greater impact is that they provide a new paradigm by adapting above real time training to decision making, to create a more game-like training scenario.
Music performance depends critically on precise processing of time. A common model behavior in studies of motor timing is isochronous serial interval production (ISIP), that is, hand/finger movements with a regular beat. ISIP accuracy is related to both music practice and intelligence. Here we present a study of these associations in a large twin cohort, demonstrating that the effects of music practice and intelligence on motor timing are additive, with no significant multiplicative (interaction) effect. Furthermore, the association between music practice and motor timing was analyzed with the use of a co-twin control design using intrapair differences. These analyses revealed that the phenotypic association disappeared when all genetic and common environmental factors were controlled. This suggests that the observed association may not reflect a causal effect of music practice on ISIP performance but rather reflect common influences (e.g., genetic effects) on both outcomes. The relevance of these findings for models of practice and expert performance is discussed.
© 2014 New York Academy of Sciences.