the dynamics of talent - amsterdam 6 3 2006 grandma moses and matthew’s burden a developmental...

the dynamics of talent - amsterdam 6 3 2006

Grandma Moses and Matthew’s burden

Grandma Moses and Matthew’s burden

A developmental look on talent

Paul van Geert

University of Groningen

Grandma Moses (1860-1961; Anna Mary Robertson) discovered her talent for painting in her seventies and became America’s most famous naive painter...Matthew’s burden: the gift of a talent brings with it the obligation to put the talent to work

introductionintroduction

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definition of talentdefinition of talent

• dictionary definition (Merriam Webster) 1 a : any of several ancient units of weight b : a unit of

value equal to the value of a talent of gold or silver 2 archaic : a characteristic feature, aptitude, or

disposition of a person or animal 3 : the natural endowments of a person 4 a : a special often creative or artistic aptitude b :

general intelligence or mental power : ABILITY 5 : a person of talent or a group of persons of talent in

a field or activity


elements of the colloquial definition

elements of the colloquial definition

• innate

• it is a potential that should lead to excellent performance

• it shows itself in early signs

• talent is rare, few people have it

• talent is specific (math, science, arts, sports, ...)


development of talentdevelopment of talent• in particular in the field of mathematics and

science• in young children• how can it be explained?• how can it be stimulated

to achieve higher levels in more people

• a broad, long-term view in order to understand the possibilities in young children

Facts (?) about talentFacts (?) about talent

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basic statements 1/2basic statements 1/2

• the straw man: talent as a fixed, life-span-stable property of a person

• talent is a dynamic and developmental phenomenon

• talent is the ability that answers an affordance of the world new affordances create new talents, e.g.

computers, written language historical changes in expert level


an overview of facts about talentan overview of facts about talent

• facts regarding the population

• factors associated with talent

• factors determining the development of talent

• developmental facts

• facts about timing


facts about the populationfacts about the population

• in the population, talent follows a skewed distribution

• does talent have a skewed distribution, or does the expert performance have a skewed distribution?

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10

level

freq

uen

cy

lognormal normal


factors associated with talentfactors associated with talent

• Genetic/biological components talent consists of many independent components multiplicative or emergenic model (Simonton)

• specific personality factors, especially in creativity

• highly unequal profiles within and between persons example “idiot savant” the same talent can be based on very different

profiles in different people• actual practice and support


factors determining the development of talent

factors determining the development of talent

• self-related strong drive and motivation / self-efficacy high assimilation, i.e. growth rate

• environment-related support role modeling and mentoring teaching technology

• process-related importance of time and effort investment strongly self-scaffolded nature


developmental factsdevelopmental facts

• nature of the talent changes across age e.g. math talent in young children vs. adults

• nature of the components that affect talent development change with age stimulating mathematical talent in gifted young

children versus stimulating talent in gifted mathematics students


timing issuestiming issues• many different pathways• Pathways strongly nonlinear

late sudden onset is possible growth and decline temporary regressions (e.g. the 4th grade slump)

• early versus later emergence there are early (child prodigies) as well as late

bloomers child prodigies especially in mathematics, music and

chess scientific talent often a delayed onset

• (early) markers of talent? variable timing of “coming out” moment

talent scouts: is there anything to scout? If so, when? And how?

talent scouts: is there anything to scout? If so, when? And how?

definition of talent: Talent is superior performance and superior learning potential/creativity relative to the person’s learning history in the talent domain or in relevant history-appropriate sub-domains

definition of talent: Talent is superior performance and superior learning potential/creativity relative to the person’s learning history in the talent domain or in relevant history-appropriate sub-domains

Talent turned upside downTalent turned upside down

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talent turned upside downtalent turned upside down

• talents that everyone has got species-specific talents that emerge at an

early age: language, social cognition, ...

• the opposite of talent impairment, disability, handicap one talent among many handicaps: the case

of “savants”


species-specific talentsspecies-specific talents

are shared by almost all people emerge relatively effortlessly and often at an

early age examples: social understanding, language,

basic logic and cognition early logic and the development of

understanding (original ideas in toddlers) linguistic talent and creativity in early

language acquisition

but: the talent and creativity are means-to-an-end, namely to master the ability in question it is likely that they are of a different kind than the talents we focus on today ...

but: the talent and creativity are means-to-an-end, namely to master the ability in question it is likely that they are of a different kind than the talents we focus on today ...


boosting performance in the little-talented

boosting performance in the little-talented

children with mental or behavioral handicaps role of adequate preparation and structuring

of the learning/teaching environment monitor the learning environment to focus

children on the learning high level of individualized scaffolding difficulty of breaking dynamically stable

patterns

Is there anything to learn from this?Is there anything to learn from this?

A dynamic model of talent growthA dynamic model of talent growth

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components of a dynamic systems model

components of a dynamic systems model

• development: explaining after by before

• dynamic system state variable(s)

• e.g. the level of a talent and/or its constituents

dynamic law or evolution law• what is the nature of the system’s change?

iterative function xt+1 = f (xt)

Iterative processIterative process

talent performance yesterday external factors yesterday

external factors today

external factors tomorrow

external factors t-d-a-t

talent performance today

talent performance tomorrow

talent performance t-d-a-t


Experience-dependent growth (1/3)Experience-dependent growth (1/3)

• components adaptation rate resources

• both internal and external experiences

• randomly varying effects that can be positive as well as negative

• talent high adaptation rate, positively biased

experiences, high resource level



• Model explains among others: the skewed population distribution excellence is – among others – a matter of

chance variability of individual trajectories stability of excellence (if resources are stable) best possibilities for talent development if

starting point and resource level match


Support-Competition-Condition dynamics (1/3)


• the multiplicative model (Simonton) talent has a multi-component structure all components are necessary components have their own growth pattern

• implies a condition dynamics growth in one component is necessary for the

onset of growth in an other component




• supportive relationships among components one has a positive effect on the growth of

another, and vice versa• e.g. curiosity and numerical skill

evidence of positive effects of cross-training

• competitive relationships among components what if components serve different talents?

• spatial imagination and art/math limited time-resource causes competition




• support-competition-condition dynamics explains variable onsets of talent skewed distribution (but see growth dynamics) cross-training and enrichment effects decline and temporary regressions


Scaffolding dynamics (1/2)Scaffolding dynamics (1/2)

• role of practice and support in talent not just any practice

• scaffold = level of support that causes best possible learning external scaffolding by a tutor external scaffolding by materials, books,

computers internal or self-scaffolding


Scaffolding dynamics (2/2)Scaffolding dynamics (2/2)

• dynamics of scaffolding growth rate of the learner optimal learner-scaffold distance adaptation of scaffold level in answer to student’s

progress

• explains matching problem (finding a correct match between talent

and support) superior effect of coaching and teaching sub-optimal patterns (self-sustaining underachievement)


Historical dynamics of talentHistorical dynamics of talent

• new generations of experts create new technologies for teaching (expert coaches)

• better skill- and expert technology

• if you want to stand on the shoulders of giants, how do you get there anyway? see early language development and

Motherese


Dynamics of interests, appraisals and emotions

Dynamics of interests, appraisals and emotions

• talent is characterized by having fun in prolonged practice strong motivation to engage in talent-domain

activities presence of knowledge building goals instead

of performance goals

• self-serving appraisal cycles

• to what extent is external appraisal necessary for talent development?

How to proceed?How to proceed?

44


Assessing talentAssessing talent• Signals/indicators of talent

superior performance and learning potential relative to the person’s learning history in the talent domain or in relevant history-

appropriate sub-domains

• difficulties very different timing of “early” signs matching problem: providing an assessment

condition in which talent can manifest itself


Stimulating talentStimulating talent• Talent is characterized by a strong internal

dynamics tends to “create” its own external support profits extensively from support, coaching, ...

• difficulties matching problem: providing stimulating

conditions in which talent can manifest itself especially in the early phases of the talent:

what is the right form of scaffolding?

• providing rich, interactive learning environments• high level of implicit scaffolding• that is talent-domain-specific• with a very broad bandwidth (e.g. high upper level)

• providing rich, interactive learning environments• high level of implicit scaffolding• that is talent-domain-specific• with a very broad bandwidth (e.g. high upper level)


An interesting initiativeAn interesting initiative

• www.bereslim.nl stimulating development from 2-6 yrs by means

of learning-skills-oriented computer games giving feedback to parents/educators about the

child’s individual development in these games collecting scientific evidence regarding the

individual pathways of learning and effects of the games

providing a platform for researchers

And in view of tomorrow’s elections ….And in view of tomorrow’s elections ….


publicationspublications• www.vangeert.nl

• Van Geert & Steenbeek, 2005

• Van geert & Steenbeek, 2006

the dynamics of talent - amsterdam 6 3 2006 grandma moses and matthew’s burden a developmental...

Documents

dynamics of talent

talent facts

talent factors

person of talent

person talent

talent of gold

early signs talent

support slide