Lecture Notes 2 – Psychological Characteristics and skills in Talent Development
and Performance
Nature vs Nurture
• most people agree that talent (including psychological characteristics and skills) comprises
both innate (nature) and acquired (nurture) components → so depends on peoples emphasis
as both is important
• in daily life, innate talent usually is inferred rather than observed
• talent innate or not? → e.g. Venus and Serena Williams who’s father made a plan to make
them to professional tennis players → no sign of genetic basis in their family/ same with
soccer coach who train his son starting at the age of 4/ Tiger Woods who started training
when he was 2
→ when see these kind of people at older age one would think that they are really talented
but they also started training at a very early age and therefore, hard to entangle nature from
nurture
→ on average 50% innate and 50% acquired
◦ there is room to believe that psychological characteristics are either innate or acquired or
both, hence affect, cognition and, behavior are a function of people’ s beliefs!
→ important because it affects ones self-regulatory processes and accordingly, performance, social
functioning, decision-making, well-being and resilience
• O’Keefe: potential consequences of people’s fixed vs. growth mindset → beliefs are
important
• between-person differences: people differ greatly in the extent to which they believe in the
malleability of talent or personal qualities (fixed mindset (entity theorist) vs. growth mindset
(incremental theorist))
• within-person differences: people’ nature-nurture beliefs typically differ across
psychological (and other) characteristics → differ in domains (e.g. say creativity is learned
and talent is inborn)
• Harvard professor Lieberman: “It is natural and normal to be physically lazy … It is not our
fault that we are physically inactive … human’s reluctance to move is all biological” →
there are differences between and within people
• Growing your mind: Hope or evidence?
◦ Carol Dweck: How to help every child fulfill their potential
▪ did study about mindsets of children moving to 7th grade:
• measured children’s mindset
• monitored grades in math over next 2 years
• also measured attitudes toward learning
• results show that when children entered their test scores were similar, however,
over the years the children’s grades drifted more and more apart (increase for
growth mindset children and similar as beginning for fixed mindset)
and Performance
Nature vs Nurture
• most people agree that talent (including psychological characteristics and skills) comprises
both innate (nature) and acquired (nurture) components → so depends on peoples emphasis
as both is important
• in daily life, innate talent usually is inferred rather than observed
• talent innate or not? → e.g. Venus and Serena Williams who’s father made a plan to make
them to professional tennis players → no sign of genetic basis in their family/ same with
soccer coach who train his son starting at the age of 4/ Tiger Woods who started training
when he was 2
→ when see these kind of people at older age one would think that they are really talented
but they also started training at a very early age and therefore, hard to entangle nature from
nurture
→ on average 50% innate and 50% acquired
◦ there is room to believe that psychological characteristics are either innate or acquired or
both, hence affect, cognition and, behavior are a function of people’ s beliefs!
→ important because it affects ones self-regulatory processes and accordingly, performance, social
functioning, decision-making, well-being and resilience
• O’Keefe: potential consequences of people’s fixed vs. growth mindset → beliefs are
important
• between-person differences: people differ greatly in the extent to which they believe in the
malleability of talent or personal qualities (fixed mindset (entity theorist) vs. growth mindset
(incremental theorist))
• within-person differences: people’ nature-nurture beliefs typically differ across
psychological (and other) characteristics → differ in domains (e.g. say creativity is learned
and talent is inborn)
• Harvard professor Lieberman: “It is natural and normal to be physically lazy … It is not our
fault that we are physically inactive … human’s reluctance to move is all biological” →
there are differences between and within people
• Growing your mind: Hope or evidence?
◦ Carol Dweck: How to help every child fulfill their potential
▪ did study about mindsets of children moving to 7th grade:
• measured children’s mindset
• monitored grades in math over next 2 years
• also measured attitudes toward learning
• results show that when children entered their test scores were similar, however,
over the years the children’s grades drifted more and more apart (increase for
growth mindset children and similar as beginning for fixed mindset)
