Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Raising To The Top - Research Paper

Raising To The Top

In the first chapter of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outlier’s, entitled “The Mathew Effect”, Gladwell explains Canadian psychologist, Roger Barnsley’s findings in which hockey players’ birthdays created an advantage or disadvantage depending on the exact month in which they were born. Those born just after the January 1st cut-off date were predicted to be better because they had a longer time to mature and prepare for what was going to happen in the upcoming season. Gladwell presents this information and states that this phenomenon called, “The Mathew Effect”, has created an unfair advantage to certain age groups for generations. “The Mathew Effect” coming from the book of Mathew in the Bible, “For ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

are still some who are born after these dates that rise to the top.

I have a birthday in January. If I was to play a sport with a January 1st cut-off date, Gladwell would state that I would have a major advantage over a child who was born in September trying out for the same sport in the same year. I happen to respectfully disagree with this theory. According to Gladwell, I would have an advantage, but the size of the advantage is debatable. Being a star athlete really and truly comes down to two factors, which are personal desire and natural talent. Both of these are needed to be a star athlete and if one is lacking then it is likely you will be average. Though Barnsley’s theory states that selection, streaming and differentiated experience (Gladwell 25) is what makes a child star by picking out the “talented” and giving them more practice while not paying as much attention to the “untalented” thus describing “The Mathew Effect” perfectly.

When applying this same concept to ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.

Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE:

APA
MLA
Chicago
Turabian

Raising To The Top. (2011, April 11). Retrieved January 15, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Raising-To-The-Top/97903

"Raising To The Top." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 11 Apr. 2011. Web. 15 Jan. 2026. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Raising-To-The-Top/97903>

"Raising To The Top." Essayworld.com. April 11, 2011. Accessed January 15, 2026. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Raising-To-The-Top/97903.

JOIN NOW

Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays

PAPER DETAILS

Added: 4/11/2011 09:12:14 PM
Submitted By: carter
Category: Miscellaneous
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 627
Pages: 3

Save |

Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS

Save and find your favorite essays easier