Understanding deliberate practice in preschool-aged children

Abstract

Deliberate practice is essential for skill acquisition and expertise and may be a direct consequence of episodic foresight. However, little is known about how deliberate practice develops in children. We present two experiments testing children's ability to selectively practise a behaviour that was going to be useful in future and to reason about the role of practice in skill formation. Five-year-olds demonstrated an explicit understanding of deliberate practice both in selectively choosing to practise a future-relevant skill and in predicting skill change in others based on their practice. Four-year-olds showed some capacities, but failed to demonstrate consistent understanding of the relationship between practice and skill improvement. Children's understanding of this relationship was significantly related to their understanding of how information leads to knowledge, suggesting that both may draw on similar cognitive developmental changes.

Keywords:

• Children
• Episodic foresight
• Mental time travel
• Self-projection
• Practice

We thank the parents and children who participated in this research, and members of the Early Cognitive Development Centre at the University of Queensland, in particular lab manager Sally Clark.

Additional information

Funding

Thomas Suddendorf was supported by the Australian Research Council [grant number DP0770113].