With Elite Performance, Does Talent or Practice Matter More?
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What creates the difference between expert and amateur performance?
These questions are examples of the age-oldnature versus nurture debate.
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In fact, the answer to this question has been the subject of considerable interest and research.
Another major study, however, challenged the idea that anyone can become an expert with enough practice.
How Much Does Practice Matter?
All of these studies looked at people who were acquiring a new skill.
Just how big of a role did practice really play?
Unsurprisingly, practicing a new skilldoeshave an important role in the learning process.
Instead, experts suggest theright kindof practice is what really matters when trying to optimize learning and increase skills.
Mental practice involves imagining the procedures you must go through to perform a task.
In the game, players guide a neuron from one connection to the next by clicking on possible targets.
These spaced-out explorations early on paid off in better performance as the players became more skilled.
Here are some tips for making your practice count.
2014;25(2):511-518. doi:10.1177/0956797613511466
