Testing assumptions of deliberate practice theory relevance, effort, and inherent enjoyment of practice with a novel task: Study II

This study examined three assumptions of the theory of deliberate practice: that deliberate practice is perceived as relevant for improving performance and that it requires effort, but that it is not perceived as being inherently enjoyable. Of particular interest was how these perceptions change as practice difficulty changes. 30 college undergraduates practiced two different maze memorization and replication tasks and rated the practice relevance for improving performance on the task, the practice effort, and the inherent enjoyment of practice. The findings for each of the assumptions were consistent with those suggested by the theory and also showed that these perceptions are subject to the current performance on an activity and the difficulty of the practice.