Expertise

Question 1

1. Who is Steve Faloon and what feat did he manage? (1 point)

Answer 1

Previously it was thought that the limit for memorizing digits was 7-8. However, Chase and Ericsson recruited undergraduate Steve Faloon in the 1970 and through training he was able to memorize 82 digits.

Question 2

2. What sort of things are people are now considered much better at than they were a few decades ago, according to Ericsson & Pool (2016)? (1 point)

Answer 2

All sorts of skills – e.g. memory, diving, violin, typing, cycling, basketball, maths.

Question 3

3. In Ericsson’s view, what is the key attribute of the human brain that means that we can keep on breaking world records? (1 point)

Answer 3

Adaptability – the brain adapts through neuroplasticity, which is the strengthening and weaking of connections between neurons amongst other things.

Question 4

4. What is perfect pitch and why is it a good demonstration of the power of neuroplasticity? (1 point)

Answer 4

 Perfect pitch is when you can name a music note without a reference point. It is a good demonstration because it was previously thought to be untrainable. However, Sakakibara (2014) ran an experiment that found it was trainable (although only in children between 2 and 6 years, who trained 4-5 times a day (2-5 mins/session) mean of 58 weeks).

Question 5

5. What study did Sakakibara (2014) conduct involving absolute pitch (participants, methods, results, conclusions)? (3 points)

Answer 5

Sakakibara (2014) recruited 24 children from a music school aged 2-6. They were trained multiple times (4-5 times per day for 2-5min) per day identifying chords (hear a chord and identify the notes that make up the chord as well as the overall chord). Retested absolute pitch every two weeks, and training progressed based on test results. Found that the children could reach criterion for perfect pitch in an average of 58 weeks.
 Sakakibara (2014) A longitudinal Study of the process of acquiring absolute pitch: A practical report of training with the ‘chord identification method’.

Question 6

6. What did top basketball player Ray Allen argue was the secret of his success? (1 point)

Answer 6

He claims he didn’t start out a better shooter – just practiced more than his teammates

Question 7

7. According to Ericsson & Ward (2007), what’s the trajectory of medical expertise across years of practice? (1 point)

Answer 7

Ericsson (1993) argued that practise alone does not lead to maximal performance (naïve practise). E.g. Doctors performance after the first two years does not improve, and often gets worse

Question 8

8. What evidence is there regarding the relationship between experience and expertise? (1 point)

Answer 8

Ericsson (1993) argued that practise alone does not lead to maximal performance (naïve practise).

1 Doctors performance after the first two years does not improve, and often gets worse

2 years of performing a skill or time spent in competition is only weakly correlated with performance.

Question 9

9. What is “naïve practice”, according to Ericsson? (1 point)

Answer 9

Ericsson describes just performing the skill over and over as a way of trying to improve it as “naïve practice”, and is typically not very effective (Ericsson & Pool, 2016). This is the same as just looking over notes over and over again (passive exposure) to study – you need to challenge yourself. People often reach a level where they are “good enough,” but weaknesses still remain.

Question 10

10. How effective is re-reading lecture notes as a way of learning content, according to learning research? (1 point)

Answer 10

This is naïve practise. This is also passive exposure – there are more effective methods in which you challenge yourself to find weaknesses and improve them e.g. self-quizzing.

Question 11

What are the principles behind “purposeful practice”, according to Ericsson & Pool (2016)? (2 points)

Answer 11

1. GOAL SETTING – create subgoals
2. FEEDBACK – high quality feedback mechanism e.g. expert
3. TIME – allow sufficient time for practise
4. PUSH BEYONG COMFORT ZONE – focus on what you can’t do
5. FOCUS – need to give task full attention

Question 12

What were Ericsson’s ideas about how to break through plateaus in improvement, taken from his observation of Steve Faloon? (2 points)

Answer 12

Don’t try harder – instead try “differently” (change your strategy)
Sometimes it is more about self-belief
Motivation is crucial – improvement is often hard and not fun

Question 13

According to Ericsson, what’s homeostasis got to do with skill acquisition? (1 point)

Answer 13

Homeostasis is when you reach a stable point – this must be challenged and “pushed beyond comfort zone.” Your brain will adapt to keep up

Question 14

What implications does Ericsson’s skill homeostasis idea have for how we should practice a skill? (1 point)

Answer 14

Practise should be “beyond your comfort zone.” It should be focussed on improving weaknesses, on the “edge” of capability. Not too far but just far enough.

Question 15

Describe the brain-imaging study Elbert et al. (1995) conducted demonstrating neuroplasticity in string players? (2 points)

Answer 15

The region of the brain associated with left hand finger control was significantly larger in 9 right-handed string players compared with 6 non-musicians – it had taken over areas of the brain that control the palm. More experience was associated with this areas being larger.

Elbert et al. (1995) Increased Cortical Representation of the Fingers of the Left Hand in String Players

Question 16

What evidence regarding the human cerebellum has been found to the concept of neuroplasticity and practice? (1 point)

Answer 16

(Hutchinson et al, 2003) found that the cerebellum (movement control) is bigger in professional keyboard players, and correlates with hours of practise

Question 17

What evidence regarding grey matter in the brain has been found to the concept of neuroplasticity and practice? (1 point)

Answer 17

Musicians have been found to have increased grey matter in RELEVANT parts of the cortex (e.g. sensory input from the hands).

Mathematicians were found to have greater cortical grey matter in RELEVANT areas after more practise

Question 18

What experimental evidence is there for skill-based training leading to changes in brain anatomy (participants, methods, results, conclusions)? (2 points)

Answer 18

The only experimental evidence (meaning RCT) is in rats - Rats who did an obstacle course involving motor-learning, balancing, and co-ordination showed ANATOMICAL CHANGES in the cerebellum compared with exercise-only control groups of rats (Anderson et al., 1994). As this was an experiment with random assignment (rather than a quasi-experiment), we can be confident this was due to the training rather than innate effects.

Question 19

What evidence is there for neuroplasticity in mathematicians? (1 point)

Answer 19

Mathematicians were found to have greater cortical grey matter in relevant areas of the brain after more maths practice (Aydin et al., 2007).

Question 20

According to Ericsson, what is a key reason current world memory champions are far superior to Steve Faloon’s 1970s record? (1 point)

Answer 20

Steve had to figure out the strategies by himself, where as later champions were able to build on the strategies used by previous champions, and improve them.

Question 21

According to Ericsson & Pool (2016), what’s the important element that is missing from “purposeful practice” strategies? (1 point)

Answer 21

A mature field of study full of expert who have been figuring out the best way to learn the skill for many years

Question 22

Contrast purposeful and deliberate practice (as defined by Ericsson & Poole, 2016). (2 points)

Answer 22

Deliberate practise is purposeful practise but with addition of expert instructors in a mature field

Question 23

Describe the six elements of deliberate practice (based on Ericsson & Pool, 2016). (2 points)

Answer 23

(Purposeful practise but with 2 extra – mature field and expert instructor – and no time)
1. GOAL SETTING – create subgoals
2. PUSH BEYONG COMFORT ZONE – focus on what you can’t do
3. FOCUS – need to give task full attention
4. FEEDBACK – high quality feedback mechanism e.g. expert
5. HIRE GOOD INSTRUCTOR
6. MATURE FIELD - Experts to have already figured out best practice for learning the skill (what needs to be learned and in what order).

Hot Girls Fist Pussies For Money

Question 24

What study did Ericsson et al. (1993) conduct to investigate deliberate practice in violinists (methods, results, conclusions)? (3 points)

Answer 24

Participants: They recruited four groups (top level violinists, ‘best’ violinists at an academy, ‘good’ violinists at an academy, and music teachers)
Method: They interviewed them and asked them to complete a diary
Findings: Better violinists spent more time in “deliberate practise”, Better violinists slept more and rated sleep of higher importance, Better violinists spent less time in leisure
Conclusions: quantity of deliberate practice can account for virtually all variation in exceptional performance (aside from exceptions, such as height in basketball).
If there is an innate component to exceptional skill – it could be the motivation to actually engage in large amounts of boring, hard work.

Question 25

What criticisms have been levelled at Ericsson’s proposal that deliberate practice can account for nearly all variation in skilled performance? (4 points)

Answer 25

1. Correlational results

so you cannot infer cause/effect – e.g. if people are naturally better at something they may be more willing to engage in deliberate practice

2. Lack of clear definitions of deliberate practise
3. That it is important but far less than erricsson claims

Other factor such as age and development stage when learning, or general abilities like working memory capacity may influence skill

Question 26

What are the problems associated with identifying a true expert? (2 points)

Answer 26

What defines an expert may be vague or subjective (e.g. expert artist)
Perceived expertise may not mean real expertise (e.g. wine critic experiment)
Experts are often defined or decided by other experts (defined by peer-review)

Question 27

What happened in Hodgson’s (2008) study investigating wine expertise (methods, results, conclusions)? (3 points)

Answer 27

Methods: gave panels of 4 wine judges in a major competition 30 wine samples over 4 years.
Results: Found wine experts gave different ratings to the same wine – they were more consistent if they didn’t like the wine – NO RELIABILITY (without reliability there can be no validity)
Conclusions: Perceived expertise may not mean real expertise

Question 28

In terms of identifying experts, what are the problems with the dictionary and the legal definition of expertise? (1 point)

Answer 28

Often define an expert based on how much practise – but we don’t know if it was deliberate practise (practise does not equal expertise)

Question 29

How do scientific definitions of expertise make it easier to identify true experts? (1 point)

Answer 29

They attempt to operationalise expertise and make it measurable. E.g. “Expertise involves an individual being able to produce a consistent performance on demand over a range of tasks that are representative of a domain” Ericsson and Lehmann (1996)

Question 30

What claims have been made in terms of how long it takes to become an expert? (1 point)

Answer 30

Some have said 10 years, others have said 10 000 hours
Simon & Chase (1973) estimated that it takes chess players a minimum of 10 years of intense practice to attain international level of chess skill. They estimated 10000 minimum.
Malcolm Gladwell (2008, “Outliers”) popularized the notion of 10,000 hours necessary to achieve world standard at a skill (based on the hours completed by the violinists in Ericsson et al., 1993).

Question 31

What criticisms have been made of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule? (2 points)

Answer 31

1 This is based on the violinists completing an “AVERAGE” of 10,000 hours -there was considerable variability

2 Depends on the competition – e.g. due to lack of competition Steeve Faloon became the best in the world in only 200 hours – its more about how many you do relative to those you are competing against

Question 32

What is the capacity of working memory according to Miller, (1956) and according to Cowan (2001)? (1 point)

Answer 32

According to Miller – 7 items plus or minus 2
According to Cowan – only 4

Question 33

Give your own example of how the same underlying information could be represented as different numbers of items in short term memory depending on how it is organised. (1 point)

Answer 33

1 1 9 0 7 0 6 6 9 9
911 007 69 69

Question 34

In the context of memory, what is chunking? (1 point)

Answer 34

A process of organising memory

Question 35

In the chunking demonstration, why did people remember more of the letters when the gaps between the letters was changed? (1 point)

Answer 35

They were chunked – the numbers were combined into chunks and therefore used less space in the working memory

Question 36

How does chunking improve performance in a skill? (1 point)

Answer 36

It reduces the cognitive load, as the chunks take up less working memory than if they were not chunked.

Question 37

Why does chunking become more effective, the more expert someone is in a skill? (1 point)

Answer 37

Experts have more domain specific knowledge, so they can chunk from their long term memory, where they have already much stored about the field. E.g. no longer seeing a serious of chess moves, instead seeing “the queens gambit”

Question 38

What’s the link between chunking and deliberate practice? (1 point)

Answer 38

Deliberate practice has been argued to be about developing mental representations in long term memory to allow for more effective chunking. More effective chunking facilitates superior expert performance.

Question 39

Why is chess so often used in expertise research? (1 point)

Answer 39

1. Experts are defined:

it’s easy and uncontroversial to define different levels of performance and hence expertise (experts beat novices).

2 Rules are defined:

it’s an example of formalised problem-solving in a rigid framework (i.e. perfect for experiments).

Question 40

What key advantage do chess computers have over humans? (1 point)

Answer 40

They can check every alternative move and how it could play out (90 billion each turn).

Question 41

How can chess experts often beat chess computers, despite this advantage? (1 point)

Answer 41

They have so much information chunked that they don’t have to consider every move - De Groot (1946/1978) found that chess experts determined the best move without an extensive search (unlike computers and novices).

Question 42

What did de Groot (1948) discover about expert chess players’ thinking processes during a match? (1 point)

Answer 42

De Groot (1946/1978) found that chess experts determined the best move without an extensive search (unlike computers and novices).

Question 43

What was the key difference between novice and expert chess players in terms of memory, according to De Groot’s work? (1 point)

Answer 43

One difference De Groot found between chess experts and novices is that experts had better memory (91% correct) for chess board layouts than novices (41% correct) following a quick glance at a chess board.

Question 44

What did De Groot argue was the key mechanism behind expert chess players’ greater skill? (1 point)

Answer 44

De Groot argued that experts used ‘pattern-based retrieval from memory’ - experts knew more board positions (and the best move from that position).

Question 45

What was Chase & Simon’s (1973) chess study involving two chess boards, one populated with a real game position (methods, results, conclusions)? (3 points)

Answer 45

Method: They had expert and novice chess players reconstruct a chess board set up with the original board in view. They counted the number of times participants glanced between the two boards.
Results + conclusion: experts used far fewer glances to reconstruct the board, suggesting they could hold bigger chunks in memory. Each chunk tended to represent meaningful games relationships between pieces (e.g. most of experts’ chunks were ‘pawn chains’).

Question 46

What was Chase & Simon’s (1973) chess study involving chess pieces randomly placed on a board (methods, results, conclusions)? (2 points)

Answer 46

Method: Placed pieces randomly – no differences between experts and novices
Results: expert’s memory advantage for board position disappeared (5 seconds presentation) when pieces were arranged randomly on the board (i.e. not part of a game).
Conclusions: They concluded the expert memory advantage was very context specific (it’s not a more general memory advantage).

Question 47

What activity is the main predictor of chess expertise (Charness et al., 2005)? (1 point)

Answer 47

The main predictor of chess expertise is not the amount of time playing chess with other people – it’s the amount of time spent studying games played by chess masters (Charness et al., 2005).
This study involves examining a position in a game, trying to predict the next move and, if you get it wrong, working out why.
This process is thought to enable the creation of the experts’ chess chunks.

Question 48

What did Simon & Gilmartin (1973) estimate that chess masters had 50,000 of? (1 point)

Answer 48

Simon & Gilmartin (1973) estimated that chess masters have 50,000 chunks they can recognise

Question 49

How do novice and expert chess players differ in how they perceive a chess board, according to Ericsson? (1 point)

Answer 49

An expert looking at a board doesn’t just see individual pieces like a novice. They see more abstract, high-level structures, defined in terms of game functionality (e.g. “lines of force” and “power”).
That is, the expert is looking at the board using a far more sophisticated (and chunky) mental representation of chess.
This expert mental representation allow them to encode not just the current game position, but also get an immediate sense of which side has the advantage, what direction a game might take, and what might be a good move from that point (Ericsson & Pool, 2016).

Question 50

What are mental representations and how do better mental representations give experts their advantage? (1 point)

Answer 50

Mental representations are patterns or chunks of information (e.g. facts, rules, images, relationships) held in the long term memory
They allow large amounts of information to be processed quickly, avoiding working memory limits.

Question 51

What study did Ward et al. (2013) conduct into expertise in soccer (methods, results, conclusions)? (2 points)

Answer 51

Method: Showed expert and novice soccer players videos of real games - They stopped the video at certain points and asked them to judge what would happen next.
Results: The better players made more accurate predictions and also had better memory for where players were and where they were going (better situation awareness).
Conclusion: They concluded this was due to better mental representations in long term memory, which allowed more sophisticated perception of the patterns of action (like expert chess players).

Question 52

What sort of stimuli have experts across a range of domains been found to remember better? (1 point)

Answer 52

Structured stimuli seems to be remembered best – it has meaningful relationships and connections

Question 53

Describe the types of domain in which experts have been found to have better memory for domain-relevant material. (1 point)

Answer 53

Experts have been found to also remember representative structured stimuli in their domain better than novices in: soccer, chess, bridge, Othello, snooker, medicine, electronic circuit diagrams, dance, basketball, field hockey, volleyball, figure skating, and football (see Ericsson & Lehman, 1996, page 293 for a list of references).

Question 54

To what extent does expertise in one domain tend to transfer to other similar domains? (1 point)

Answer 54

One key property of experts’ mental representations are that they are very specific to the domain of expertise.
E.g. steve faloon couldn’t remember strings of letters / chess experts were no better at memorising randomly placed pieces

Question 55

What did Ericsson et al. (2004) find regarding the memory of pi-reciting champion, Rajan Mahadevan? (1 point)

Answer 55

Rajan Mahadevan could recite pi to 31,811 digits. However his memory for lists of symbols (e.g. ?, @, #, *) was only 6 (same as college students) – until he started using strategies to recode the symbols as numbers (Ericsson et al., 2004).

Question 56

Describe evidence that indicates expertise tends to be very domain specific. (1 point)

Answer 56

E.g. steve faloon couldn’t remember strings of letters / chess experts were no better at memorising randomly placed pieces / Rajan Mahadevan could recite pi to 31,811 digits. However his memory for lists of symbols (e.g. ?, @, #, *) was only 6 (same as college students) – until he started using strategies to recode the symbols as numbers (Ericsson et al., 2004)