The Multifactorial Gene-Environment Interaction Model (Mgim) Of Expert Performance

Abstract

This chapter proposes one model: The Multifactorial Gene-Environment Interaction model (the MGIM). In line with ample empirical evidence, the MGIM assumes that deliberate practice is an important predictor of expert performance, and that a main reason for this association, although not the only one, is causal effects of deliberate practice on expert performance. Long-term deliberate practice may lead to extensive anatomical and functional reorganizations of brain circuits that control performance. These plastic processes involve different brain systems and can include more efficient interactions between long-term memory and working memory (LTM-WM) and improved domain-specific sensorimotor skills. The MGIM can readily be seen to suggest a number of possible directions for future empirical research, where it and deliberate practice theory give rise to differing predictions. The MGIM represents an attempt to synthesize recent findings into a domain-general model for expert performance that takes into account both the multifactorial influences on expertise at the phenotypic level and the influence of genetic factors.