An expert performance approach to the study of individual differences in self-regulated learning activities in upper-level college students

One of the hallmarks of adolescent and adult development of expert performance is its self regulation. This paper reviews different approaches to assessing the use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies in high-school and college students and their ability to predict academic performance. The current study assesses the use of SRL strategies with interviews and diaries and their relation to grade point average (GPA) in sixty upper-level college students majoring in science. Their diaries revealed that students with high, average, and low GPAs (assessed before the start of the semester) differed in overall use of SRL strategies and in the use of particular strategies during specific weeks. Methods of assessing and understanding differences in adult self-regulation and subsequent academic performance are evaluated and discussed.     

No Evidence for Mutations that Deregulate GARS–AIRS–GART Protein Levels in Children with Down Syndrome

GARS–AIRS–GART is crucial in studies of Down syndrome (DS)-related mental retardation due to its chromosomal location (21q22.1), involvement in de novo purine biosynthesis and over-expression in fetal DS brain postmortem samples. GARS–AIRS–GART regions important for structure–function were screened for mutations that might alter protein levels in DS patients. Mutation screening relied on multiplex/singleplex PCR-based amplification of genomic targets followed by amplicon size determination/fingerprinting. Serum protein samples were resolved by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with a GARS–AIRS–GART monoclonal antibody. No variation in amplicon size/fingerprints was observed in regions encoding the ATP-binding, active site residues of GARS, the structurally important glycine-rich loops of AIRS, substrate-binding, flexible and folate-binding loops of GART or the poly-adenylation signal sequences. The de novo occurrence or inheritance of large insertion/deletion/rearrangement-type mutations is therefore excluded. Immunoblots show presence of GARS–AIRS–GART protein in all patient samples, with no change in expression levels with respect to either sex or developmental age.     

Giftedness and evidence for reproducibly superior performance: an account based on the expert performance framework

Giftedness researchers have long debated whether there is empirical evidence to support a distinction between giftedness and attained level of achievement. In this paper we propose a general theoretical framework that establishes scientific criteria for acceptable evidence of superior reproducible performance, which any theory of exceptional performance must explain. We review evidence for superior reproducible performance, generally emerging only after extended periods of deliberate practice that result in subsequent physiological adaptations and complex cognitive mechanisms. We also apply this framework to examine proposed evidence for innate talents. With the exception of fixed genetic factors determining body size and height, we were unable to find evidence for innate constraints to the attainment of elite achievement for healthy individuals.