The role of deliberate practice in chess expertise

Charness, Neil; Tuffiash, Michael; Krampe, Ralf; Reingold, Eyal M.; Vasyukova, Ekaterina E.

doi:10.1002/acp.1106

Cited by 224 publications

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“…Participants in the expert group engaged in fewer trials and had a more permanent improvement in performance for a more challenging skill than did the intermediate group, which suggests that the expert group's practice was more deliberate and of a higher quality and greater efficiency. It is apparent that expert performers accumulate more hours of deliberate practice than do their less expert counterparts (e.g., Charness et al, 2005;de Bruin et al, 2008;Hambrick et al, 2013;, and these differences in the quality of how they practice may further explain why they reach a higher level of attainment than others. However, the approach employed in this study is descriptive in nature, and care should be taken not to infer causality from the differences in practice characteristics observed between the groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several other researchers have subsequently provided support for the "monotonic benefits assumption" p. 368) across a variety of domains (e.g., Charness, Tuffiash, Krampe, Reingold, & Vasyukova, 2005;. Moreover, a recent reanalysis of the studies on chess and music showed that the amount of accumulated deliberate practice alone accounted for 30% of the variance in attainment level (Hambrick et al, 2013;see also de Bruin, Smits, Rikers, & Schmidt, 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In their second study, further support for this prediction was found, with expert pianists having accumulated 7,606 hours of practice by 18 years of age, which was significantly more than the figure for amateur pianists, who had accumulated only 1,606 hours. Several other researchers have subsequently provided support for the "monotonic benefits assumption" p. 368) across a variety of domains (e.g., Charness, Tuffiash, Krampe, Reingold, & Vasyukova, 2005;. Moreover, a recent reanalysis of the studies on chess and music showed that the amount of accumulated deliberate practice alone accounted for 30% of the variance in attainment level (Hambrick et al, 2013; see also de Bruin, Smits, Rikers, & Schmidt, 2008).…”

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See 2 more Smart Citations

How experts practice: A novel test of deliberate practice theory.

Coughlan¹,

Williams²,

McRobert³

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

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Performance improvement is thought to occur through engagement in deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is predicted to be challenging, effortful, and not inherently enjoyable. Expert and intermediate level Gaelic football players executed two types of kicks during an acquisition phase and pre-, post-, and retention tests. During acquisition, participants self-selected how they practiced and rated the characteristics of deliberate practice for effort and enjoyment. The expert group predominantly practiced the skill they were weaker at and improved its performance across pre-, post-and retention tests. Participants in the expert group also rated their practice as more effortful and less enjoyable compared to those in the intermediate group. In contrast, participants in the intermediate group predominantly practiced the skill they were stronger at and improved their performance from pretest to posttest but not on the retention test. Findings provide support for deliberate practice theory and give some insight into how experts practice and improve their performance beyond its current level.Keywords: learning, skill acquisition, expert performance An activity that is central to learning is deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is designed to improve key aspects of current performance, is challenging, effortful, requires repetition and feedback, and may not be inherently enjoyable or immediately rewarding (Ericsson, 2003(Ericsson, , 2007(Ericsson, , 2008. Ericsson, Krampe, and TeschRömer (1993) provided a theoretical framework detailing how deliberate practice leads to improvements in performance and the attainment of expertise. First, the "monotonic benefits assumption" (p. 368) holds that the amount of time invested in domain-specific deliberate practice activities is positively, even monotonically, correlated to the attained performance level. Second, the individual requires resources, including good teachers and suitable facilities, in order to optimize practice. Third, individuals who engage in deliberate practice are predicted to rate it as more relevant to improving performance, more effortful, and less enjoyable when compared to other activities. The predictions of deliberate practice theory have typically been tested using the retrospective recall methodology in which participants are required to evaluate activities they have engaged in previously. However, ratings of practice may be confounded by a number of factors, such as lapses in memory between engaging in the practice and retrospectively rating it sometime later. To our knowledge, no researchers have previously measured the ratings of deliberate practice during a practice session. A novel test of deliberate practice theory is reported in this manuscript in which ratings of practice are recorded during practice itself, rather than retrospectively sometime after the practice has occurred. used recall interviews and diaries to retrospectively examine the activities that musicians attending the West Berlin Music Academy had engaged in since startin...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How experts practice: A novel test of deliberate practice theory.

Coughlan¹,

Williams²,

McRobert³

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

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“…Charness, Krampe, and Mayr (1996) studied the effects on chess performance of age, coaching (which apparently had little effect), and amount of practice. Charness, Tuffiash, Krampe, Reingold, and Vasyukova (2005) also looked at the link between amount of practice and expertise. Charness and Gerchak (1996) aimed to relate some well-known differences in proportions of top chess performers by sex and nationality to differing national participation rates.…”

Section: Some Illustrative Examples Of Research Studies Using Chess Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

A complete database of international chess players and chess performance ratings for varied longitudinal studies

Howard

2006

Behavior Research Methods

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Chess is an oft-used study domain in psychology and artificial intelligence because it is well defined, its performance rating systems allow easy identification of experts and their development, and chess playing is a complex intellectual task. However, usable computerized chess data have been very limited. The present article has two aims. The first is to highlight the methodological value of chess data and how researchers can use them to address questions in quite different areas. The second is to present a computerized database of all international chess players and official performance ratings beginning from the inaugural 1970 international rating list. The database has millions of records and gives complete longitudinal official performance data for over 60,000 players from 1970 to the present. Like a time series of population censuses, these data can be used for many different research and teaching purposes. Three quite different studies, conducted by the author using the database, are described.

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“…In studies by Ericsson and others it is estimated that to reach expertise in performance areas such as music and chess one needs about 10000 hours of practice before the age of 20 (21,22,23). Similar theses have been put forward when it comes to sport (24).…”

Section: Scientific Validity and Practical Utilitymentioning

confidence: 86%

Against Genetic Tests for Athletic Talent: The Primacy of the Phenotype

Loland

2015

Sports Med

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New insights into the genetics of sport performance lead to new areas of application. One area is the use of genetic tests to identify athletic talent. Athletic performances involve a high number of complex phenotypical traits. Based on the ACCE model (review of analytic and clinical validity, clinical utility, and ethical, legal and social implications) a critique is offered of the lack of validity and predictive power of genetic tests for talent. Based on the ideal of children's right to an open future a moral argument is given against such tests on children and young athletes. A possible role of genetic tests in sport is proposed in terms of identifying predisposition for injury. If meeting ACCE requirements such tests could improve individualized injury prevention and increase athlete health. More generally, limitations of science are discussed in the identification of talent and in the understanding of complex human performance phenotypes. An alternative approach to talent identification is proposed in terms of ethically sensitive, systematic and evidence-based holistic observation over time of relevant phenotypical traits by experienced observers. Talent identification in sport should be based on the primacy of the phenotype. Key points Genetic tests for athletic talent have insufficient scientific basis and low predictive power and challenge the ethical ideal of children's right to an open future.  A possible role for genetic tests in sport is identifying predisposition for injury.  In talent identification the superior approach seems to be ethically sensitive, systematic and evidence-based holistic observation over time of relevant phenotypical traits by experienced observers.

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The role of deliberate practice in chess expertise

Cited by 224 publications

References 8 publications

How experts practice: A novel test of deliberate practice theory.

How experts practice: A novel test of deliberate practice theory.

A complete database of international chess players and chess performance ratings for varied longitudinal studies

Against Genetic Tests for Athletic Talent: The Primacy of the Phenotype

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