Believing in a Thing

My wife is teaching our young son to play the piano. He is doing quite well. It is true that kids at their young age are able to pick up new skills quite easily. But I think even adults can learn new skills. It might be harder, but I wonder if this is in part because we adults "believe" it will be harder and we "believe" we are less capable of learning new things. They say, after all, that perception counts.