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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Psychology

Grand Valley State University

Series

Evolutionary psychology

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

You Can’T Teach Speed: Sprinters Falsify The Deliberate Practice Model Of Expertise, Michael P. Lombardo, Robert O. Deaner Jun 2014

You Can’T Teach Speed: Sprinters Falsify The Deliberate Practice Model Of Expertise, Michael P. Lombardo, Robert O. Deaner

Funded Articles

Many scientists agree that expertise requires both innate talent and proper training. Nevertheless, the highly influential deliberate practice model (DPM) of expertise holds that talent does not exist or makes a negligible contribution to performance. It predicts that initial performance will be unrelated to achieving expertise and that 10 years of deliberate practice is necessary.We tested these predictions in the domain of sprinting. In Studies 1 and 2 we reviewed biographies of 15 Olympic champions and the 20 fastest American men in U.S. history. In all documented cases, sprinters were exceptional prior to initiating training, and most reached world class …


Sex Differences In Sports Across 50 Societies, Robert O. Deaner, Brandt A. Smith Jan 2012

Sex Differences In Sports Across 50 Societies, Robert O. Deaner, Brandt A. Smith

Peer Reviewed Articles

Sports have been frequently explored in cross-cultural studies, yet scant attention has been paid to female participation. Here we coded the occurrence of sports and related activities for males and females in the societies comprising the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) probability sample. We then tested several predictions derived from evolutionary theory. As predicted, in all 50 societies with documented sports, there were more male sports than female sports; hunting and combat sports were almost exclusively male activities; and the sex difference in sports was greater in patriarchal than in nonpatriarchal societies. These results show that a robust sex difference …