Progress-focused

For the past ten years or so, deliberate practice has become quite well known (although many are more familiar with Malcolm Gladwell's incorrect interpretation of it as the 10,000 Hours Rule ). As can be read in popular publications (such as the book Peak ), deliberate practice is a form of practice that plays an important role in building excellence. But in recent years, a number of publications have appeared (such as Macnamara, 2014) that suggest that deliberate practice plays a less important role than previous research showed. Anders Ericsson, p ioneer in research into deliberate practice, along with Kyle Harwell, responds to the recent criticisms in recent paper.

Why expert performance is special and cannot be extrapolated from studies of performance in the general population: A response to criticisms K. Anders Ericsson Abstract : Many misunderstandings about the expert-performance approach can be attributed to its unique methodology and theoretical concepts. This approach was established with case studies of the acquisition of expert memory with detailed experimental analysis of the mediating mechanisms. In contrast the traditional individual difference approach starts with the assumption of underlying general latent factors of cognitive ability and personality that correlate with performance across levels of acquired skill. My review rejects the assumption that data on large samples of beginners can be extrapolated to samples of elite and expert performers. Once we can agree on the criteria for reproducible objective expert performance and acceptable methodologies for collecting valid data, I believe that scientists will recognize the n...