Roy W. Roring

Giftedness and evidence for reproducibly superior performance: an account based on the expert performance framework

Giftedness researchers have long debated whether there is empirical evidence to support a distinction between giftedness and attained level of achievement. In this paper we propose a general theoretical framework that establishes scientific criteria for acceptable evidence of superior reproducible performance, which any theory of exceptional performance must explain. We review evidence for superior reproducible performance, generally emerging only after extended periods of deliberate practice that result in subsequent physiological adaptations and complex cognitive mechanisms. We also apply this framework to examine proposed evidence for innate talents. With the exception of fixed genetic factors determining body size and height, we were unable to find evidence for innate constraints to the attainment of elite achievement for healthy individuals.

Toward a science of exceptional achievement: attaining superior performance through deliberate practice.

Exceptional performance is frequently attributed to genetic differences in talent. Since Sir Francis Galtons book, Hereditary Genius, many scientists have cited heritable factors that set limits of performance and only allow some individuals to attain exceptional levels. However, thus far these accounts have not explicated the causal processes involved in the activation and expression of unique genes in DNA that lead to the emergence of distinctive physiological attributes and cognitive capacities (innate talent). This article argues on the basis of our current knowledge that it is possible to account for the development of elite performance among healthy children without recourse to innate talent (genetic endowment)—excepting the innate determinants of body size. Our account is based on the expert‐performance approach and proposes that the distinctive characteristics of exceptional performers are the result of adaptations to extended and intense practice activities that selectively activate dormant genes that are contained within all healthy individuals’ DNA. Furthermore, the theoretical framework of expert performance explains the apparent emergence of early talent by identifying factors that influence starting ages for training and the accumulated engagement in sustained extended deliberate practice, such as motivation, parental support, and access to the best training environments and teachers. In sum, our empirical investigations and extensive reviews show that the development of expert performance will be primarily constrained by individuals’ engagement in deliberate practice and the quality of the available training resources.

Giftedness Viewed from the Expert-Performance Perspective.

Traditional conceptions of giftedness assume that only talented individuals possess the necessary gifts required to reach the highest levels of performance. This article describes an alternative view that expert performance results from acquired cognitive and physiological adaptations due to extended deliberate practice. A review of evidence, such as historical increases in performance, the requirement of years of daily deliberate practice, and structural changes in the mediating mechanisms, questions the existence of individual differences that impose innate limits on performance attainable with deliberate practice. The proposed framework describes how the processes mediating normal development of ability and everyday skill acquisition differ from the extended acquisition of reproducibly superior (expert) performance and how perceived “giftedness” gives children access to superior training resources, resulting in developmental advantages.

Expert performance in SCRABBLE: implications for the study of the structure and acquisition of complex skills.

Applied psychologists have long been interested in examining expert performance in complex cognitive domains. In the present article, we report the results from a study of expert cognitive skill in which elements from two historically distinct research paradigms are incorporated -- the individual differences tradition and the expert-performance approach. Forty tournament-rated SCRABBLE players (20 elite, 20 average) and 40 unrated novice players completed a battery of domain-representative laboratory tasks and standardized verbal ability tests. The analyses revealed that elite- and average-level rated players only significantly differed from each other on tasks representative of SCRABBLE performance. Furthermore, domain-relevant practice mediated the effects of SCRABBLE tournament ratings on representative task performance, suggesting that SCRABBLE players can acquire some of the knowledge necessary for success at the highest levels of competition by engaging in activities deliberately designed to maximize adaptation to SCRABBLE-specific task constraints. We discuss the potential importance of our results in the context of continuing efforts to capture and explain superior performance across intellectual domains.

A multilevel model analysis of expertise in chess across the life span.

The authors examined longitudinal change in chess skill using a multilevel model analysis of a large database of active, elite chess players (N = 5,011). Parameters estimated from quadratic growth curves indicated that the age of peak performance occurs later in life than originally proposed and that this peak is independent of initial skill level. The findings are also consistent with the hypothesis that aging is slightly kinder to the initially more able, who show milder decline past their peak. Higher tournament activity levels predicted higher ratings overall and interacted with age in the initially more able sample, suggesting that activity had smaller effects on rating for older adults. The authors discuss implications of these findings for lifetime changes in skilled performance.

An Expert Performance Approach to the Study of Giftedness

Ever since the publication of Galton’s seminal book, Hereditary Genius (1869/1979), researchers and the general public have assumed that individuals need to be endowed with inherited gifts to attain elite levels of performance. This chapter describes the surprising lack of firm objective evidence for this assumption. We review a variety of findings that support the important role of extended training, such as structural changes and adaptations of the mechanisms that mediate increasing levels of performance and how these changes result from years and decades of daily deliberate practice. We also detail a new alternative approach toward the study of giftedness, namely the expert performance approach, and how it is able to explain the findings from studies of reproducibly superior performance. The proposed framework can also account for how perceived “giftedness” is often a self-fulfilling prophecy, as it often provides “gifted” children with better motivational support and access to superior training resources, resulting in the superior development of performance.

Misunderstandings, agreements, and disagreements: toward a cumulative science of reproducibly superior aspects of giftedness

In our target paper we approached the issues of gifts and innate talents a little differently; in contrast to earlier reviews we turned away from definitions and global theories and focused instead on the empirical evidence for giftedness meeting the standards of laboratory science, namely that the performance associated with a gift or talent is reproducibly superior and objectively measured. We then surveyed all available domains for evidence and focused, in particular, on performance that allegedly could not be explained in terms of acquired skills and adaptations in the context of the expert performance framework. We argued that this approach would help us and other scientists make progress in identifying the verifiable, reproducible evidence for any innate gifts that may be necessary for achieving elite and expert levels of performance. Once identified, the associated phenomena could then be replicated and examined in more detail to develop complete accounts in terms of gifted individuals’ unique genetic endowment, the associated unique genes, and their expression during development leading to the observable phenotypes. We were delighted to receive so many commentaries from many of the authors that we had cited in our target paper. Several commentators (Baker, BeghettoKaufman, Coleman, Freeman, Kaufman, Runco, Subotnik-Jarvin-Rayhack, Ziegler) were kind enough to compliment us on our target paper’s scope and depth of review, even though many expressed disagreements with some of our views and ideas.

Strategies may mediate heritable aspects of memory performance: a twin study.

ObjectiveThis study examined use of strategies by twins during cognitive tasks to determine the effects of strategy-use on estimates of heritability. BackgroundPerformance on many cognitive tasks has been found to be more similar for monozygotic (MZ) than dizygotic (DZ) twins. The cognitive mechanisms mediating these similarities are largely unknown. MethodsThink-aloud protocol analysis was used during 3 cognitive tasks typically considered to have high heritability and susceptibility to strategy-use. In addition, a battery of traditional paper tests was administered to examine potential effects of cognitive abilities. ResultsPerformance on 3 cognitive tasks showed effects of strategies, and performance on 2 of the tasks showed a genetic influence. On 1 of these tasks differences in strategies explained a significant portion of the genetic influences. Measures of cognitive ability and metacognitive knowledge could not explain individual differences in strategy use. ConclusionsThis is the first demonstration that the estimated heritability of performance on cognitive tasks is mediated, at least in part, by the use of specific cognitive strategies. Future studies using similar techniques will permit a description of the development of cognitive mechanisms mediating heritable cognitive abilities, and a deeper understanding of the integration of genetic and environmental factors at the level of cognitive strategies and processes.

Can the Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory be extended to account for individual differences in skilled and expert performance in everyday life?

Performance on abstract unfamiliar tasks used to measure intelligence has not been found to correlate with individual differences in highly skilled and expert performance. Given that cognitive and neural structures and regions mediating performance change as skill increases, the structures highlighted by parieto-frontal integration theory are unlikely to account for individual differences in skilled cognitive achievement in everyday life.

Videoconferencing Technology as Environmental Support for Older Adults

Age-related declines in cognitive abilities can sometimes be remedied for working memory intensive tasks by providing what Craik (1986) termed “environmental support,” for instance, using external memory cues to alleviate normal memory retrieval demands. We investigated a way-finding task that requires serial recall, a particularly challenging memory task for older adults. We compared videoconference versus voice-only guided presentation of routes to younger and older adults. Participants viewed or did not view maps containing the to-be-learned routes. Additionally, participants were allowed to take notes to simulate real-world situations more closely for half of the trials. Analyses indicate an interaction of age, notes, and map presentation at recall, suggesting environmental support from videoconferencing reduces the advantage of note taking for older adults. Videoconferencing can be a particularly effective presentation medium for older adults with respect to memory-intensive everyday tasks.