SCIENTISTS DISMISS 'TALENTS' AS MYTHS
A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS SAYS PRACTICE AND ENCOURAGEMENT CREATE CHILDREN
By John Clare - The London Daily Telegraph September, 11 1998
THE notion that geniuses such as Shakespeare, Mozart and Picasso were
"gifted" or possessed innate talents is a myth, according to a study published
yesterday. [Read the complete study.]
After examining outstanding performances in the arts and sport, Michael
Howe, professor of psychology at Exeter, and his colleagues concluded that
excellence is determined by opportunities, encouragement, training, motivation,
self-confidence and - most of all - practice.
Their theory - which represents a radical break with traditional beliefs
- has been applauded by academics worldwide. It has significant implications
for teachers and parents, not least because children who are not thought
to be gifted are being denied the encouragement they need to succeed.
The authors took as their starting point the "widespread belief that
to reach high levels of ability a person must possess an innate potential
called talent". They said it was important to establish whether the belief
was correct because it had social and educational consequences affecting
selection procedures and training.
However, studies of accomplished artists and mathematicians, elite tennis
players and swimmers reported few early signs of promise prior to parental
encouragement. No case had been encountered of anyone reaching the highest
levels of achievement without devoting thousands of hours to serious training.
Even those who were believed to be exceptionally talented, whether in music,
mathematics, chess or sports, required lengthy periods of instruction and
Mozart produced his best work only after a long period of training.
It was not until he had been immersed in music for 16 years that he first
produced an acknowledged masterwork. The study said: "The early biographies
of prominent composers have revealed that they all received intensive and
regular supervised practice sessions over a period of several years.
"The emergence of unusual skills typically followed rather than preceded
a period during which unusual opportunities were provided, often combined
with strong expectations that a child would do well.
"The persistent myth that some people reach high levels of performance
without devoting numerous hours to practice owes much to the fact that
practising activities are usually outside the casual observer's view."
Research had shown strong correlations between the level of performance
of student violinists and the number of hours they practised. Even people
who were not believed to have any special talent could, purely after training,
reach levels of achievement previously thought to be attainable only by
Research had shown that cocktail waitresses could regularly remember
as many as 20 drink orders at a time, far more than a control group of
university students. The study said: "It is conceivable that people who
are employed as waiters gravitate to such jobs because of an in-born memory
skill. But the findings make it far more likely that employees excel in
recording orders because of on-the-job practice."
In sport, differences in the composition of certain muscles were thought
to be reliable predictors of differences in athletic performance. The study
said: "However, the differences in the proportion of slow-twitch muscle
fibres that are essential for success in long-distance running are largely
the result of extended practice in running, rather than the initial cause
of differential ability."
It said reasoning about talent was often circular, and said: "She plays
so well because she has a talent. How do I know she has a talent? That's
obvious, she plays so well." Some children did acquire ability more effortlessly
than others but that did not mean they were gifted.
The study said: "Substantial numbers of today's musicians reach standards
of performance that would have been rare in Mozart's time, when they would
have been regarded as special talents. Similarly, substantial numbers of
serious amateur athletes are capable of marathon times for which Olympic
gold medals were awarded early in the present century.
"This again points to the importance of opportunities and learning experiences,
rather than innate gifts. It even raises the possibility that levels of
performance in children that would have been regarded as indications of
innate talent in prior generations might be seen as indicating a lack of
talent in a child today."
Categorising children as innately talented was discriminatory, the authors
said. "The evidence suggests that such categorisation is unfair, preventing
people from pursuing a goal because of the unjustified conviction of teachers
or parents that certain children would not benefit from the opportunities
given to those who are deemed to be talented."
By the same token, a false belief that one did not possess the necessary
talent could affect a person negatively. Talent was a myth and it was time
it was demolished, the authors concluded. However, they said it would be
wrong to assume that any diligent child could excel at anything, especially
in the absence of expert teaching, encouragement, and unusual motivation.
Opponents of Prof Howe's theory said practice and other factors were
no doubt important contributors to outstanding performance, but not enough
to explain great creative works. "Talent is essential," said David Feldman
and Tamar Katzir of Tufts Univerity, Massachusetts.
"If anyone can prove that the works of these individuals can be explained
without recourse to a construct like natural talent, we will concede that
talent does not exist: Mozart, Picasso, Shakespeare, Martina Hingis, Pavarotti,
Ramanujan, Judit Polgar and Michael Jordan. Practice indeed."
Article reproduced without permission.