Article excerpt: NAJP: How do you describe "talent"? KK: I agree with psychologist Benjamin Bloom (1985) who studied 120 highly talented people across six talent domains and concluded that almost any person in the world can become talented if provided with the appropriate conditions of learning. My research has investigated what those conditions are and how parents can arrange and facilitate those conditions. Consider Mozart. Whatever biological leanings he might have had, he only became great because he began musical training in his home at an early age; had outstanding instruction from his father, Leopold, who was | an accomplished musician, composer, and teacher; practiced with intention many hours a day under Leopold's watchful eye; and was raised in Salzburg, a center of music excellence where he could learn from other experts and perform. NAJP: What talent domains have you studied, and why study talent development? KK: I and my students have studied talented people from a wide-range of talent domains including: chess, baton twirling, swimming, diving, volleyball, fencing, rodeo, spelling, music, softball, figure skating, speed skating, gymnastics, football, photography, writing, rock climbing, and costume design to name a few. We have investigated national and world champions, prestigious award winners, and Olympic gold medalists among them. I study talent development because talent is in some ways the pinnacle of learning, and I've long been interested in how to maximize learning. There is much we can learn from the talented, such as how to practice and how to maintain a singleness of purpose. I also study talent because it is an important human resource. Without the talented, there would be no Raphael Nadal winning French Opens, no Shakespearian sonnets or plays, and no Carl Sagan revealing secrets of the cosmos. The world is a better place because of the talented. NAJP: As a mediocre jazz guitarist, I know the importance of practicing. But to be really good at any endeavor, how much practice is involved? KK: As talented as Mozart was in music and Picasso was in art as children, neither created an outstanding work until practicing their crafts for 10 or more years. Psychologist John Hayes (1989) studied creative composers and artists and found that none made landmark contributions in less than 10 years. This 10-Year Rule for attaining expertise holds up well across many domains. We also know from the work of psychologist Anders Ericsson (see Ericsson & Pool, 2016) that practice must be mindful and deliberate. One cannot simply hit golf balls each day, even for 10 years, and become an expert. Practice must be goal-directed and challenging, focused on small incremental improvements. There must also be corrective feedback about what's right, what's wrong, and what adjustments to make. Most often, that feedback comes from a successful coach or mentor. As people practice, amazing things happen outside and inside. Outside, they begin to see in one or two strokes of attention what novices might see in ten strokes or never see at all. That's why champion chess players can play near-flawless chess games, while making all their moves in just one minute (instead of the usual two to four hours), or play dozens of players simultaneously. Inside, the brain changes in response to practice. For example, Ericsson and Pool (2006) point out that the portion of the brain associated with spatial navigation grew significantly as a result of training to become a London cab driver, and that years of | practice on a string instrument caused the area of the brain that controls the fingers on the left hand to expand and, in turn, permit greater control of those fingers. NAJP: Let's talk mentoring--why is mentoring so important in talent development, and is it difficult to find a mentor--say in violin, chess, or figure skating? KK: As just mentioned, practice is not fruitful unless goal-directed, focused, challenging, and accompanied by insightful feedback. …
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