Lecture 12: Developing Talent

Question 1

steps to engaging in deliberate practice

Answer 1

1. Figure out what deliberate practice is (in the specific domain)
2. Figure out how you can get yourself to do it a lot

Question 2

deliberate practice in psychotherapy

Answer 2

recording your sessions and reviewing them with a master clinician

Question 3

deliberate practice in chess

Answer 3

watch Grand Master matches and study what the best next move is

Question 4

deliberate practice in scrabble

Answer 4

memorize all of the 2- and 3-letter words and make index cards with anagrams

Question 5

deliberate practice in taking notes

Answer 5

• Try to take notes so well that you can teach it as a lecture
• Helps improve focus

Question 6

deliberate practicing in teaching

Answer 6

recording your lectures and reviewing them with a master lecturer

Question 7

ego involvement

Answer 7

a task that one’s self-esteem rides on

Question 8

task involvement

Answer 8

a task that is mastery-oriented

Question 9

Mike and Ryan Sullivan, 1996

Answer 9

• Not the worst relationship
• Both are under the impression that the goal is (mostly) autonomously coming from the son
• The son is repeating the father’s goals/ plans for himself
• He seems to have internalized the father’s wishes
• The dad is showing some awareness that the goals are coming from him
• Ryan seems to genuinely enjoy hockey

Question 10

individual skills ->

Answer 10

compound skills

Question 11

Athletic family system

Answer 11

if someone from another planet spent a week with this family, they would say that they are about sport

Question 12

Benjamin Bloom’s development of expertise study method

Answer 12

• Retrospective study about the development of expertise
• Involved extensive interviews of 120 young people and their parents and coaches
• All were identified as talented (top 25 in the U.S.) in arts, athletics, or academics

Question 13

Benjamin Bloom’s development of expertise study findings

Answer 13

Found that there were similar types of parenting that resulted in high-level achievement

Question 14

what types of parenting resulted in high-level achivement?

Answer 14

Child-oriented
Achievement-oriented
Responsibility-oriented

Question 15

typical stages of involvement

Answer 15

1. Exposure and playful interaction
2. Moderate skill building
3. Intensive preparation toward expertise

Question 16

Tiger Wood’s dad and responsibility orientation

Answer 16

Tiger Wood’s dad made him pack his own clubs since he was 2.5 years old

Question 17

exposure and playful interaction

Answer 17

• Ages 2-5
• The kid is generally interested in the activity
• The parents decide what to expose the kid to
• The parents will sometimes hire a coach or an instructor, but it should be someone who the kid likes interacting with, not necessarily the best teacher

Question 18

moderate skill building

Answer 18

• Involves building the foundations of practicing
• Parents have an important role in this
• Parents help you see the value in practicing and the best way and time to do this
• This results in internalization

Question 19

intensive preparation toward expertise

Answer 19

• Involves finding the best team and coach
• The child has to begin to specialize
• Disengagement from other activities
• The parent has to step back and allow an expert in the field to guide them (ex. A coach)

Question 20

Michelle Wie West

Answer 20

her career flamed out because her dad would not give up control

Question 21

Adrien De Mello

Answer 21

• Graduated from university in computational mathematics at 11 years old
• He went back to high school at age 16 because he wanted to get as far away from his father as possible
• His child bordered on abuse
• His father pushed him very hard academically
• His mother divorced his father, largely because they disagreed over how to raise Adrien
• He often felt lonely and didn’t have friends his own age

Question 22

Brooke Raboutou

Answer 22

• Was coached by her mother
• There was no separation between “mom” and “coach”
• Both her parents were rock climbers and pushed her into it at a young age
• Both Brooke and her mother believe her goals were autonomous, but it seems that they were her mother’s internalized goals

Question 23

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talent study methods

Answer 23

• Prospective longitudinal study of 9th graders identified as talented in 2 areas
• Used an experience sampling method for 1 week
• Followed up in grade 12 to see if teens developed their talent areas

Question 24

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talent study findings

Answer 24

• Only 25% of students were still doing the activity and planning to continue to do it in university
• 9th graders who experienced more flow in a week were more likely to continue in their talent area
• Specifically, those who experienced flow during their activity were more likely to continue in their talent area

Question 25

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talent study conclusion

Answer 25

a talent will be developed if it produces optimal experiences

Question 26

Ryan Sullivan's Hockey Career

Answer 26

- He is 35 years old now - He didn’t make it to the NHL or to the high school his dad wanted him to - But, he went to university, had a 4.0 GPA, and was the best student-athlete

Question 27

how can you help children sustain deliberate practice?

Answer 27

through flow

Question 28

the flow method

Answer 28

- Overall goal + as many subgoals as possible - Find ways to measure progress - Concentrate & make finer distinctions regarding challenges - Develop new skills - Keep raising the stakes when it becomes boring

Question 29

example of the flow method

Answer 29

Koestner’s masters swim class

Question 30

Ericsson's misunderstanding of flow

Answer 30

- Ericsson thinks that flow is incompatible with deliberate practice - He argues that training activities aren’t fun and require feedback and repetition

Question 31

Ericsson vs. Csikszentmihalyi similarities

Answer 31

- Goal-oriented - Requires complete attention - Find ways to measure progress - Beyond the comfort zone

Question 32

Ericsson vs. Csikszentmihalyi differences

Answer 32

- Csikszentmihalyi: Play at the edge of our capabilities; - Ericsson: Suffer at the edge of our capabilities; - Csikszentmihalyi: Carried by a current? - Ericsson: Slip-sliding in rapids? - Csikszentmihalyi: Mastery focus? - Ericsson: Performance focus?