On page 281 of the Evidence section, Shenk elaborates on the success of child prodigies. He quotes Ericsson as saying there is “only comparatively few prodigies, such as Mozart, Picasso, and Yehudi Menuhin, who continued their success into adulthood- most prodigies do not live up to expectations.” Why do you think this fact holds true if child prodigies possess the capacity for such talent at a young age? Do you think pressure has anything to do with this equation, and to what extent does pressure factor into the environmental conditions a person experiences as they grow up? Use specific examples to support your claim.
(Lily Walker, lwalker220@gmail.com)
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ReplyDeleteChild prodigies have long been mistakenly believed to have more “natural talent” for certain things than others around them. Supposed child prodigies like Mozart and Yo-Yo Ma were long believed to have been born with gifts endowed by Mendelian genetics which would allow them to compose masterpieces and sit down at the piano or cello and begin playing with no previous experience just like experts around them. In reality, child prodigies are not born with genes different than everyone else, they simply live in environments which foster certain gene expression causing “natural talent” to be manifested. In reality, we all contain the “capacity” for talent at such a young age, but GxE interaction needs to occur with the environment in order to create display of this talent. Yo-Yo Ma had no more special genes than any children who lived around him, but rather, lived and breathed an environment of music. His “uncanny ability” stemmed from his exposure to “music in the most profound and exquisite way” (Shenk, 93). His mother was an opera singer, and his father was a trained conductor of orchestras and also a composer. They had left China and pursued life in Paris simply because of their dream to achieve within the realm of music, thus Yo-Yo Ma was raised in an environment of intense musical love and training. It was no surprise when Yo-Yo Ma being “worshipping his sister and his father, desperately wanting to impress both” (Shenk, 95) and began playing the cello. The motivation of wanting to impress his sister and father, and also living in an environment where music was greatly appreciated and had great importance, created a psychological drive for Yo-Yo Ma to practice and excel in music. Thus, when he accomplished so much as a young musician, it was because the “desperate personal desire [to succeed] is the key to personal success.” (Shenk, 95). This “desperate personal desire” and Yo-Yo’s motivation was what caused the normally dormant “musical” genes to become activated and expressed moreso than they would in other people. As Shenk stated, most humans have the gene for absolute pitch, it is a matter of having the correct environment which will allow expression of this gene.
ReplyDeleteWhen a child is younger, the genetic material is more easily “molded” to allow for epigenetic material which can be passed on. The driven environment of music changes the expression of the gene and allows the child’s “ear” to change and have this absolute pitch. It is proven that among musicians who were started younger, 40% of them had the activated gene for absolute pitch if they started training younger than age 4 (like Yo-Yo Ma did), while only 8% of them did if they started later than that (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1376881/). As a person grows older, it becomes harder to activate the DNA within this gene, because it is no longer so malleable, and thus seemingly the younger person is a prodigy, but rather, most people had the technical capacity to obtain absolute pitch and supposed “talent” within music, the correct environment was simply never there to foster it and cause the gene expression.
(continued on second post, Michelle Kelrikh, mjkelrikh@gmail.com)
However, this does create change in the epigenetic material being passed on. A parent with the activated gene for absolute pitch is likely to pass on this gene to his offspring. Because the parent will likely stick to an “established cultural norm”, the environment of the child will often be the same as his parent’s, thus the gene will be activated and the “talent” will be cultivated. (“Absolute pitch: an approach for identification of genetic and nongenetic components." 65)
ReplyDelete(continued on 3rd comment, mjkelrikh@gmail.com)
However, even with such drive and activated genes, most child prodigies do not amount to much, but this is because often child prodigies lose the key to success, which is “the individual’s dedication” (“Prediction of Excellence in School, University, and Work”, 325-366). In fact, the only way child prodigies could amount to anything is if they “bucked the trend of losing dedication as time went on.” (http://articles.cnn.com/2007-12-10/living/mf.child.prodigies_1_prodigies-mathematics-notable?_s=PM:LIVING) This is because child prodigies are only called “prodigies” because of what they can accomplish at such a young age. Someone able to play a symphony at Bach is much more impressive if they are five years old versus thirty-five years old. As Shenk states time and time again, Bach and Mozart were only impressive composers because they were simply composing at such a young age, not because what they were composing was so impressive. Pressure, and dedication, like anything else influence epigenetic materials which are passed on through sexual reproduction. Often, like Ellen Winner stated, the prodigies become “frozen in their success” because they are pressured to go into their comfort zone and never try and become better. (Footnote 92, p. 283)
ReplyDeletePressure can often cause mental breakdowns and instability within child prodigies who are discovered for their “natural talent” by their parents or other agents, causing their epigenetic material to be influenced as a result of this stress. (http://articles.cnn.com/2007-12-10/living/mf.child.prodigies_1_prodigies-mathematics-notable?_s=PM:LIVING). In fact, it was found that intense outside pressure (mental, not physical) can cause mutations in the activated genes, because it places them under high stress for expression (“Absolute pitch: an approach for identification of genetic and nongenetic components." 62) As the child gets older, their DNA is actually “pressured” not to be expressed, and thus the person seems to be of less “talent” when they are older, even though in reality this is not true. Thus, only those in favorable environments or those who are “strong” enough to withstand the pressure are able to continue their success into adulthood and to go out of their comfort zone. In order for someone to continue being a prodigy into adulthood, it is less the supposed “capacity for natural talent” which as proved by Shenk does not truly exist, but rather the “fate, personality and good old-fashioned drive which are just as important to adult success and fulfillment, if not more, than genes” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/8028543/Gifted-children-no-more-likely-to-succeed.html) which will give them success into the future.
(Michelle Kelrikh,mjkelrikh@gmail.com)
Agreeing with Michelle, I believe that child prodigies don't always possess talent at their age. To clarify, I mean that the number of actual child prodigies is actually smaller in comparison to the number of publicized child prodigies due to the infatuation and romanticizing of child prodigies nowadays. In fact, according to common knowledge of genetics, everyone is born with the same set of DNA, even with animals, we share similar traits, yet the variations of what genes are turned on and off in embryonic development and environmental factors that create variations in people. Various genetic factors come into play that children can't control whether it be that some musicians claim to hear music inside the womb, which led to their ability to recognize musical patterns or the fact that drugs and alcohol severely inhibit fetal development. An example is with Psychobiologist Carolyn Granier-Deferre's experiment on the effect of music on developing fetuses: babies had music played three weeks before birth and a month after their birth, it was discovered that their heart rates slowed down in tune with the melody when it was played to them, while unfamiliar songs had no effect. Factors such as this prove that environments affect development even before birth, especially because it is warned that too much music can actually be detrimental to development. "Human hearing develops during the last three months of pregnancy. By five weeks before birth, the cochlea - the spiral-shaped part of the inner ear responsible for hearing - is usually mature (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1364120/Unborn-babies-played-music-womb-remember-melodies-born.html). Hopeful mothers who play too much music or have too many loud sounds disrupting the womb's environment actually risk damaging the hearing of their baby. (http://www.livescience.com/13067-sounds-heard-womb-affect-baby-heart-rate.html) Relating to Mozart's case, his family of musicians made it possible that he had a rich influence growing up, and while it is possible that he may recognize melodies because of his mother listening to music so often, it is more likely that environmental factors like his father having him play so often led to his success. This can be seen because his sister Nannerl experienced the same conditions, yet because of her gender, she was overshadowed by her younger brother. She was considered a child prodigy once, yet it was stifled due to social boundaries and her gender, which prevented her from pursuing her skills as much as Mozart. Even then, Mozart wasn't truly considered a prodigy until his teenage years; while he was an exceptional child player, his works were actually not well-received and it was only later that he began writing successful operas of his own.
ReplyDelete(Diana Liao, dianaliao3@gmail.com)
(Continued.)
ReplyDeleteIt is in this sense that I will also discuss Shenk's mention of the Britney Spears Syndrome in which a child, in this case Britney Spears, is constantly praised for his or her successes, only to have more pressure applied to succeed, which leads into a self-absorbed lifestyle and set mentality in which no growth can occur. Spears grew up as an idol to young girls everywhere, but her career spiraled out of control as she changed her image to meet the needs of her growing market. She, like child star Lindsey Lohan, felt a need to please adults like her parents and sponsors, and because of that, their failure to adapt to the real world caused them to fall into pits of drug abuse and scandal. (http://www.eppc.org/publications/pubid.3922/pub_detail.asp) They eventually stifle themselves because they can't fathom the possibility that they aren't perfect. This environment ties in with GxE because of how children are inexperienced with dealing with acceptance and stress. Those who can cope with change are able to survive, but those who can't stand the pressure fail, and it is usually the lack of support from others that drive them deeper into failure and denial. In fact, this is why a growth mentality is encouraged - not only do students actually learn the material rather than shallow memorization, but they find a "drive" and feel inspired to pursue the topic instead of being forced by others. They are more willing to break away from their comfort zones and defy the limits, which leads to more personal success and fulfillment than those who believe their genes are superior and struggle to recover from failure.
(Diana Liao, dianaliao3@gmail.com)