科研之友
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摘要
Some researchers in sports attribute elite performance to genetic talent. However they do not offer complete genetic accounts that specify the causal processes involved in the activation and expression of the dormant genes in DNA during practice in the athletes' development that lead to the emergence of the distinctive physiological and anatomical attributes (innate talent). This article argues that it is possible to account for the development of elite performance among healthy children without recourse to unique talent (genetic endowment) - excepting the innate determinants Of body size. This account based on the expert-performance approach shows that the distinctive characteristics of elite performers are adaptations to extended and intense practice activities that selectively activate dormant genes that all healthy children's DNA contain. The expert-performance approach has provided accounts for elite performance in several domains of expertise, such as music, ballet, chess, and medicine. This article shows how the superior performance of athletes can be captured and reproduced under laboratory conditions to discover the mechanisms mediating superior performance. The discovered mechanisms have, so jar been shown to reflect predominantly complex skills and physiological adaptations acquired over years and decades as a result of high daily levels of activities, which were specially designed to improve performance (deliberate practice). The second part of this article describes the development of expert performance in sports as an extended series of stable states of adaptation with associated physiological mechanisms that mediate performance. One section describes bow frequent intense engagement in certain types of practice activities is shown to induce physiological strain which cause biochemical changes that stimulate growth and transformation of cells, which in turn leads to associated improved adaptations of physiological systems and the brain. A careful review of the published evidence on the heritability of acquisition of elite sports achievement failed to reveal reproducible evidence for any genetic constraints for attaining elite levels by healthy individuals (excluding, Of course, the evidence on body size). The theoretical framework of expert performance explains individual differences in attained performance by the factors that influence the engagement in sustained extended deliberate practice, such as motivation, parental support, and access to the best training environments and teachers. Consequently, the development of expert performance will be primarily constrained by individuals' engagement in deliberate practice and the quality of the available training resources.
- 出版日期2007-3
