ABSTRACT
Questions about the nature of individual differences in learning and skill acquisition were raised early in the history of modern psychology. E. L. Thorndike (1908) was perhaps the first investigator to examine this issue, when he addressed the question of whether individuals become more alike or different in performance on a task after extensive practice. The underlying question that Thorndike and others sought to answer is a fundamental one about nature versus nurture. On the one hand, if nature (or genetic endowment) is the primary limiting determinant of skilled performance, then providing a group of individuals with extensive task practice should result in greater variability in performance, as each individual reaches his or her physiological or cognitive maximal efficiency. On the other hand, if nurture (e.g. training or experience) is the primary determinant of skilled performance, then providing a group of individuals with extensive task practice should result in reduced variability in performance, as individuals converge on a common level of task experience.
