High-achieving adults were rarely child prodigies

It’s easy to assume that the most talented adults were once gifted children. But a new study has revealed that talent during childhood is not a predictor of later success after all.

International chess masters, Olympic gold medalists and Nobel Prize-winning scientists have rarely been child prodigies. The conclusion is from a recent review of the Science.

The same research also found that early childhood successes and intensive training programs rarely led to global top performances in the adult world.

The analysis – based on 19 studies involving almost 35,000 high performers – shows that The vast majority of adults who top world rankings in their area of ​​expertise grew up participating in a wide range of activities, only gradually developing their most proficient skills.

The findings contradict the popular belief that achieving peak levels of international performance requires intensive, highly focused training during childhood.

As , much research has strongly linked the intensity of a child’s training program in specific activities – such as music and athletics – to competitive performance in those activities during adolescence or early adulthood. However, studies of older world-class athletes have shown trends in the opposite direction.

The studies reviewed included analyzes of the life stories of Olympic athletes, Nobel Prize laureates in the sciences, world top 10 chess players and the most renowned classical music composers, as well as international leaders in other fields.

Across specialties, early high performers and later world-class interpreters were largely different people. In fact, only about 10% of those who excelled in adulthood were top performers in their youth, and only about 10% of the best young performers went on to excel in adulthood.

The review addresses a long-standing research gap by clearly separating early success from long-term elite performance, he tells New Scientist. David Feldonfrom Utah State University. who was not involved in the study.

The expert points out that there is a tendency to encourage children to focus intensely on learning and practicing a particular skill: “It certainly develops expertise and leads to quick gains, but I don’t know if it is ultimately productive for people throughout their lives.”