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Testing the Deliberate Practice Theory: Does Practice Reduce the Heritability of Musical Expertise?
Miriam A Mosing1,2,3, Karin J H Verweij4, David Z Hambrick5
1Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grüneburgweg 14, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Journal of Intelligence
|September 27, 2024
Summary
Deliberate practice (DP) theory suggests practice overrides genetics in expertise. However, this study found genetic influences on musical expertise remain significant, even increasing with more practice hours.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Genetics
- Psychology of Music
- Expertise Research
Background:
- The deliberate practice (DP) theory posits that expertise is primarily acquired through extensive, focused practice, potentially diminishing the role of genetic factors.
- A key prediction of DP theory is that genetic influences on performance decrease as practice accumulates.
- Understanding the interplay between genetics, practice, and expertise is crucial for fields like psychology and education.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the prediction that genetic influences on musical expertise decrease with increased practice.
- To investigate the moderating role of practice hours on genetic and environmental influences on musical expertise.
- To examine the relative contributions of genetics, shared environment, and unique environment to musical expertise across different levels of practice.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a large twin study (N=6471, 1302 complete pairs) to assess musical expertise and lifetime practice hours.
- Employed bivariate Cholesky decomposition, incorporating practice hours as a moderator, to analyze genetic and environmental influences.
- Musical expertise was quantified using a musical auditory discrimination test.
Main Results:
- On average, genetic factors accounted for 50% of individual differences in musical expertise, with shared and unique environmental factors explaining approximately 25% each.
- Practice hours significantly moderated these influences; increased practice reduced shared and unique environmental variance.
- Crucially, the overall genetic component remained unaffected by practice, leading to an increased relative genetic contribution (heritability) with more practice.
Conclusions:
- Findings contradict the deliberate practice theory's prediction that genetic effects diminish with practice.
- Genetic predisposition appears to remain a significant, and relatively more important, factor in achieving high levels of musical expertise.
- This suggests a continuous interplay between genetic potential and deliberate practice in the development of expertise.
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