The influence of innate talent in the acquisition of sport expertise

Abstract

This thesis examines the contribution of talent to the acquisition of expertise. First, an experimental task investigates the influence of intelligence, working memory, perceptual speed, psychomotor ability and knowledge components in leading a new sports skill. Then, two studies examine to what degree these variations such as power output and cadence, or energy pathway can be accounted for by the level of focused practice in a particular sport. Utilizing the sports domain, the studies examine factors that contribute to individual difference in performance at three phases of skill acquisition, novice, intermediary, and expert. The dichotomy of the influence of innate vs. practice factors in expertise has provoked much debate from Francis Galton (emphasizing hereditary genius) to Anders Ericsson (focusing on deliberate practice). Nonetheless, a sports literature review identifies a dominant epistemology for attaining expertise to be practice with the contribution of talent very rarely considered. In order to appraise the influence of talent in attaining a sports skill chapter 3 investigates the impact of psychometric factors on novice participants learning a hockey skill. Results reveal a significant association between performance gains and working memory capacity. Chapter 4 utilizes secondary data analysis to examine the cyclists representing Team GB at 2012 London Olympics. Specifically, a comparison is made between individuals selected using different talent identification measures identify; either (i) accomplished cyclists selected by traditional metrics (race results), or (ii) inexperienced cyclists selected by targeted performance measures (such as power output and VO2 max). Results show that the inexperienced cyclists became experts quicker than experienced, suggesting that earlier specialized performance practice may not be necessary. Chapter 5 investigates Olympic track and field athletes representing Team GB at London 2012 using secondary data. An athlete’s energy requirement (aerobic and anaerobic) was compared for differences in the speed of acquiring expertise, results indicated that athletes in sports more dependent on the anaerobic energy pathway attained expertise quicker than those in sports more reliant on the aerobic pathway. Overall, these results contribute to a better understanding of talent in motor skill acquisition. They indicate the important contribution of talent to motor skill acquisition and question the dominance of the deliberate practice hypothesis. A greater understanding of the contributions of psychological and physiological components in explaining individual differences in developing expertise is needed. It is argued on the basis of the current research that this requires taking a more theoretically grounded approach to identifying these contributing factors across different sports.