Stablefree's Shed

Photo

Sat, 25 May 2013 20:00:56 +1000

crowned-anchorage: hail your butt lord

Sat, 25 May 2013 18:00:43 +1000

crowned-anchorage:

hail your butt lord

thepoeticpony: When you’ve bungled all your bangles by...

Sat, 25 May 2013 16:00:34 +1000

thepoeticpony:

When you’ve bungled all your bangles by *Turtle-Arts

erthilo: not-reality: geneticanomaly: neurosciencestuff: Prac...

Sat, 25 May 2013 14:00:33 +1000

erthilo:

not-reality:

geneticanomaly:

neurosciencestuff:

Practice makes perfect? Not so much

Turns out, that old “practice makes perfect” adage may be overblown.

New research led by Michigan State University’s Zach Hambrick finds that a copious amount of practice is not enough to explain why people differ in level of skill in two widely studied activities, chess and music.

In other words, it takes more than hard work to become an expert. Hambrick, writing in the research journal Intelligence, said natural talent and other factors likely play a role in mastering a complicated activity.

“Practice is indeed important to reach an elite level of performance, but this paper makes an overwhelming case that it isn’t enough,” said Hambrick, associate professor of psychology.

The debate over why and how people become experts has existed for more than a century. Many theorists argue that thousands of hours of focused, deliberate practice is sufficient to achieve elite status.

Hambrick disagrees.

“The evidence is quite clear,” he writes, “that some people do reach an elite level of performance without copious practice, while other people fail to do so despite copious practice.”

Hambrick and colleagues analyzed 14 studies of chess players and musicians, looking specifically at how practice was related to differences in performance. Practice, they found, accounted for only about one-third of the differences in skill in both music and chess.

So what made up the rest of the difference?

Based on existing research, Hambrick said it could be explained by factors such as intelligence or innate ability, and the age at which people start the particular activity. A previous study of Hambrick’s suggested that working memory capacity – which is closely related to general intelligence – may sometimes be the deciding factor between being good and great.

While the conclusion that practice may not make perfect runs counter to the popular view that just about anyone can achieve greatness if they work hard enough, Hambrick said there is a “silver lining” to the research.

“If people are given an accurate assessment of their abilities and the likelihood of achieving certain goals given those abilities,” he said, “they may gravitate toward domains in which they have a realistic chance of becoming an expert through deliberate practice.”

This is important.

Finally an actual study on this. Truth right there.

Yup, I’ll agree on that. I wonder if they’ll ever be able to tell whether we’re going to be great at something before we waste countless hours doing it.

pasta-tardis-jam-superheros: cpaek: I changed my facebook...

Sat, 25 May 2013 12:00:49 +1000

pasta-tardis-jam-superheros:

cpaek:

I changed my facebook timeline cover to the avengers picture.. and I realized that my face was blocking Hawkeye’s body. So I quickly took another photo to make Hawkeye look more fabulous.

I believe I am actually crying

dean-tacos-cas: spookapple: jackvessalius: look what we have here i have legitimately never...

Sat, 25 May 2013 10:01:06 +1000

dean-tacos-cas:

spookapple:

jackvessalius:

look what we have here

i have legitimately never laughed harder and for as long in my entire life

destroyed-and-abandoned: Spiral staircase abandoned chapel NY...

Sat, 25 May 2013 08:01:41 +1000

destroyed-and-abandoned:

Spiral staircase abandoned chapel NY
Source: odin’s_raven (flickr)

picturesque-scene: they saw the chance they took the chance

Sat, 25 May 2013 06:01:59 +1000

picturesque-scene:

they saw the chance

they took the chance

colaeuphoria: skrill-cosby: bloodazure: generalmumble: prince...

Sat, 25 May 2013 04:01:13 +1000

colaeuphoria:

skrill-cosby:

bloodazure:

generalmumble:

princess:

callurn:

what the fuck is going on

i CAN’T STO P LAUIHGHINH

what the fuucucuuuuckk

this makes me so uncomfortable oh my god

knish

when did rat boy genius start using minecraft backgrounds I remember when he used to do 2d

meggannn: thatlonelybarricade: videohall: Bird reacts to...

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:31:55 +1000

meggannn:

thatlonelybarricade:

videohall:

Bird reacts to dubstep

#best four seconds of my life tbh

gabbird

doctorcanon: cmcross: No, you don’t understand. This actually...

Sat, 25 May 2013 02:02:04 +1000

doctorcanon:

cmcross:

No, you don’t understand.

This actually happens.

We got a 16 year old boy on our unit once, because Pediatrics was full, and it’s about 1 in the morning and all the nurses are at the nurses station having a break and we’re all talking and having a laugh and then all of a sudden this kids heart monitor just goes CRAZY.

So we call the code and I grab the crash cart and about 6 of us just take off running down the hall and we bust in the room and this kid is just sitting there with his hand around his junk looking MORTIFIED.

So we just sort of backed out of the room quietly, walked calmly to the stairwell, and had a total and complete hysterical breakdown.

It was the funniest shit ever.

Omigod so many nurses have told me stories like these.

fan-troll: you’ll notice me eventually, senpai it’s only a matter OF TIME

Sat, 25 May 2013 01:21:38 +1000

fan-troll:

you’ll notice me eventually, senpai

it’s only

a matter

OF TIME

I'm going to be honest and say that you are not really all that good looking.. 4 out of 10 at the most

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:38:52 +1000

Thanks for being honest - I’d prefer that over being told white lies

Get a hair cut

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:06:48 +1000

DON’T DISRESPECT MY HAIR I HAD TO FLY ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE 70’S TO GET IT

ghosteh13: voice-of-tartarus: demeaniac: what if with our first clot of air when we are born we...

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:01:29 +1000

ghosteh13:

voice-of-tartarus:

demeaniac:

what if with our first clot of air when we are born we inhale a soul, and every time we breathe out, we squeeze a tiny part of our souls out. would our final breath actually be the very last soul fragment leaving our bodies?

Woah woah wait

you know those things that say “you become like the 5 people you hang out with the most”

that would explain why, because you would actually be inhaling little parts of them over time

Oh my god

why is thIS ON MY CAMERA

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:53:56 +1000

why is thIS ON MY CAMERA

theponyartcollection: City by *RubleGun

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:01:13 +1000

theponyartcollection:

City by *RubleGun

matthen: If a mathematician wants to cross a road, they will...

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:00:54 +1000

matthen:

If a mathematician wants to cross a road, they will think carefully about their optimal path. The total distance of the path should be minimised, but they prefer walking on the sidewalk to the road. If there is no extra discomfort from being on the road, the best path is a straight line, but as it increases it is better to cross the road more directly. The resulting path is exactly the same as a ray of light refracting through a block of glass [with relative refractive index equal to the ratio of these ‘discomfort levels’]. Fermat’s principle says that light will want to spend less time in the glass (on the road), as it actually travels more slowly in the glass. [video] [code] [more]

Photo

Fri, 24 May 2013 16:00:39 +1000

pixography: Surreal Gallery

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:00:38 +1000

pixography:

Surreal Gallery