Speed of expertise acquisition depends upon inherited factors

This paper challenges the current dominant view of expertise acquisition by reintroducing inherited factors in the learning process. Studies in experimental psychology have consistently shown that expert performance correlates with the amount of domain-specific knowledge that the experts have acquired through practice. This finding has led to the view that nurture dominates nature with respect to expertise acquisition. We review studies in neurobiology that have shown that the biological processes underlying long-term memory storage engage genetic mechanisms. Thereby, we lay out a framework that provides the basis for reinterpreting psychological data in a psychobiological light. We advance a genetic hypothesis which accounts for individual differences in expertise acquisition. We briefly discuss the consequences of our hypothesis on education.