The author of this article believes that Ericsson and his associates continue to produce impressive research on talent and exceptional performances. He agrees that the objective of their featured article--"a general theoretical framework that establishes scientific criteria for acceptable evidence of superior reproducible performance, which any…

We focus on three aspects of the articles of Reyna, of Perry, Stupnisky, Daniels and Haynes, and of Murdock, Beauchamp and Hinton. The first aspect is the logic of causal chain, a logic that we differentiate from a more deterministic approach. The second one is the mode of corrective action (attribution retraining) that is planned for students,…

Comments on the original article "Plate tectonics in the classification of personality disorder: Shifting to a dimensional model," by T. A. Widiger and T. J. Trull. The purpose of this comment is to address (a) whether psychologists know how personality traits are currently assessed by clinicians and (b) the reliability and validity of those…

Integrative hierarchical models have sought to account for the extensive comorbidity between various internalizing disorders in terms of broad individual difference factors these disorders share. However, such models have been developed largely on the basis of self-report and diagnostic symptom data. Toward the goal of linking such models to…

The concept of "successful aging" is a contested discourse in gerontology. Two conflicting paradigms dominate the discussion: a health promotion activity model, and a model critical of the concept of successful aging. However, this study takes a different perspective and proposes that perhaps we have been striving for the wrong goal. The true…

This author became intrigued by the idea that her generation, who had grown up reaping the benefits of second-wave feminism, might differ from previous generations in their attitudes toward women. What was unclear was how this period of progress might have combined with feminist backlash in affecting subsequent generations' responses to typical…

Many teachers are interested in fostering creativity, and there are good reasons for doing so. However, the question of how to do it is made difficult by the paradoxes of creativity: mutually contradictory findings that are, nonetheless, simultaneously true (e.g. convergent thinking hampers creativity but is also necessary for it). These paradoxes…

Replies to comments by K. M. Sheldon et al on the author's original article on evolution and personality variation. Sheldon et al concurred with the thrust of that article that the way natural selection shapes or gives rise to interindividual variation is a worthy topic for evolutionary psychologists to consider, so at a broad level Sheldon et al…

This paper argues that the new science of positive psychology is founded on a whole series of fallacious arguments; these involve circular reasoning, tautology, failure to clearly define or properly apply terms, the identification of causal relations where none exist, and unjustified generalisation. Instead of demonstrating that positive attitudes…

In his best-selling book, "The World Is Flat," Thomas Friedman describes that the real world is becoming "flat." He describes how 10 forces are "flattening" the 21st century--making it easier for people in India, China and around the world to compete with Americans and others who had triumphed the century before. This article presents an interview…

We are grateful to the commentators for providing many stimulating and valuable observations. The main point of our article was to call attention to the overestimation of individual differences correlations in a subset of neuroimaging papers. To structure our discussion of these comments, we list the main points from our paper, note where…

In this commentary, the author focuses on the claim summarized in the last sentence of the target article's abstract. To begin, the concept of talent does not require the existence of "innate constraints to the attainment of elite achievement". On the contrary, genetic endowment may merely influence the rate at which domain-specific expertise is…

May Sarton's (1961) novel, "The Small Room", provides a rich and compelling description of the complex relations among teachers, students, and subject matter at Appleton College. This article explores that "wild triangle of relations" in the context of teacher education, arguing that teacher educators and their students (prospective teachers)…

Every professor encounters difficult students. Some students are simply uninterested, while others are more troublesome. The aggressive passive-aggressive student, the interrupter, the hijacker, the shy student--most faculty members are familiar with them all. In this article, the author offers a few tips on how faculty members should approach…

Comments on the article by D. Nettle, who has clearly shown that evolutionary psychologists need to focus more attention on individual differences, not just species-typical universals. Such differences are not mere "noise," and evolutionary theory will gain by understanding how they are produced and maintained. However, by focusing on personality…