Pujols aces tests given to Babe Ruth. Maybe athletes do deserve a leg up ...

Parents Forum
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<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060822/ap_on_sc/bbn_pujols_science%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060822/ap_on_sc/bbn_pujols_science&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Top athletes do have superior brain power in certain areas. Pattern recogntion may be one area. Isn't pattern recognition a large part of IQ tests?</p>

<p>Maybe athletes should have a leg up in college admissions. Maybe there is a reason why athletes do well in the real world, and part of the reason is intelligence.</p>

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<p>Excellent article. I think athletes do have special abilities (beyond the obvious) and it seems this researcher agrees:</p>

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White said Pujols' performance on any one test doesn't explain his abilities; it's the whole package that probably counts. </p>

<p>"My hypothesis would be that there's something special about how he puts it all together" on the field, she said.

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<p>This, of course, is no scientific study, it is entertainment. Perhaps everyone in the major leagues (or at least at his position) must learn to perform this way, or perhaps it doesn't matter at all how one performs on theses tests. Still, it is fun to read about. </p>

<p>Though there are physical characteristics such as height that may help, those who have studied expertise have found no evidence of special abilities or talent that account for expertise in any field studied. It appears to come down to amount and quality of practice.</p>

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<p>I think that people who regularly participate in sports benefit intellectually from better physical conditioning, self-esteem, and the concentration required to participate in a challenging sport. Even Harvard has tried to dispel the "dumb jock" image:</p>

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<a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=173732%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=173732&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>