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SEASON OF BIRTH AND CHESS EXPERTISE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2008

FERNAND GOBET  and
PHILIPPE CHASSY
FERNAND GOBET
Affiliation:
Centre for the Study of Expertise, Centre for Cognition and NeuroImaging, Brunel University, UK
PHILIPPE CHASSY
Affiliation:
Centre for the Study of Expertise, Centre for Cognition and NeuroImaging, Brunel University, UK
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Summary

The origin of talent and expertise is currently the subject of intense debate, with explanations ranging from purely biological to purely environmental. This report shows that the population of expert chess players in the northern hemisphere shows a seasonal pattern, with an excess of births in late winter and early spring. This effect remains when taking into account the distribution of births in the population at large, using statistics from the European Union member countries. A similar pattern has been found with schizophrenia, and the possible link between these two phenomena is discussed.

Information

Type
Short Report
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , March 2008 , pp. 313 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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