Acquiring Exceptional Skill

Outliers are Born “I believe…that if the ‘eminent’ men of any period, had been changelings when babies, a very fair proportion of those who survived and retained their health up to fifty years of age, would, notwithstanding their altered circumstances, have equally risen to eminence.” - Francis Galton (1869)

Outliers are Born

Outliers are Made “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select...regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities…” - John Watson (1930)

Outliers are Made “The formation of early work habits in youth, of working longer hours than others, of practicing more intensively than others, is probably the most reasonable explanation we have today not only for success in any line, but even for genius.” - John Watson (1930)

Outliers are Privileged For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. Matthew 25:29

Matthew Effect The social structure of science provides the context for this inquiry into a complex psychosocial process that affects both the reward system and the communication system of science. We start by noting a. theme that runs through the interviews with the Nobel laureates. They repeatedly observe that eminent scientists get disproportionally great credit for their contributions to science while relatively unknown scientists tend to get disproportionately little credit for comparable contributions. Robert Merton

Success and Relative Age Effects BoschFeb 14 WasdenJan 4 GrantMar 20 HelmJan 21 DorsettDec 20 ToddJan 10 SwystunJan 15 …

Success and Relative Age Effects

Success and Relative Age Effects One explanation that may be offered to account for the relationship between month of birth and hockey success resides in a proposed shift in participation rates in minor hockey programs for children born in different months. Therefore, it would be hypothesized that as the group of children in minor hockey gets older, those born in the first months of the year tend to remain as participants, whereas those born in the later months of the year tend to drop out.

Success and Relative Age Effects A second explanation that has been suggested to account for the relationship between month of birth and long-term success in hockey resides in the differential hockey experiences given to players who are chosen for "rep" teams (generally "representative" of a city or an area) or "top tier" teams in their leagues. The reasoning in this argument is that the young hockey players who have a relative age advantage (born in January, February, March) are more likely to be picked for the higher calibre teams than are those players who have a relative age disadvantage

Matthew Effects in Education N = 657 Q1: Sept – Nov Q2: Dec – Feb Q3: Mar – May Q4: June – Aug

Matthew Effects in Education

Processes of Matthew Effects 1.Selection 2.Streaming 3.Differentiated Experience

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Beliefs  Stereotype threat What a person thinks about his or her own capabilities

How Far Do Matthew Effects Go? Sidney Crosby August 7, 1987