Turns out, that old “practice makes perfect” adage may be
overblown.
New research led by Michigan State University’s Zach
Hambrick finds that a copious amount of practice is not enough to explain why
people differ in level of skill in two widely studied activities, chess and
music.
In other words, it takes more than hard work to become an
expert. Hambrick, writing in the research journal Intelligence, said natural
talent and other factors likely play a role in mastering a complicated
activity.