One question biologists have been tackling is known as “nature vs nurture,” or figuring out how much of one’s behavior is inherited and how much is learned or influenced by the surrounding environment. With this in mind, a team of psychologists from America, England and Australia focused on the question of whether or not expertise in a particular skill can be achieved solely through years of practice and hard work.
Their analysis of several studies suggests that the saying “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” can be true, if applied toward skills at which individuals have already displayed an inclination.
“If people are given an accurate assessment of their abilities and the likelihood of achieving certain goals given those abilities,” the team wrote, “they may gravitate toward domains in which they have a realistic chance of becoming an expert through deliberate practice.”
Though none of the studies analyzed by the researchers focused on families, it’s hard not to reference the case of the Polgar sisters from Hungary. Their father conducted his own studies on developing excellence in a skill by training his children to play chess from a very early age, supplementing these lessons with coaching from professional chess players.
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Two of the Polgar sisters went on to become the first female chess grandmasters while still in their teens, while the other attained international grandmaster status. The youngest of the three sisters, considered the family’s prodigy, remains the only woman ranked among the world’s top 100 chess players.
The team’s article focused on more than a dozen studies conducted among chess players and musicians to find out how much of a role practice played in differentiating skill levels.
