Lecture 3 Nature Of Skill Flashcards
What are some problems faced with defining expertise?
Definitions lack accuracy and specifity. Power problems- as expertise grows the sample size decreases also if the gap between novices and experts isn’t large enough then also lacks power. Also risk of circularity if no external criterion.
Why is expertise often studied in chess?
Easy to measure and determine performance levels and expertise in a rigid framework
It has been argued that chess experts have greater thinking ahead capabilities than novices. How does de Groots (1946/78) study debunk this assumption?
De Groot found that when he asked experts and novices to “think aloud” what they were planning on doing next, then experts did not plan any further ahead than did novices.
When memorising chess board layouts, who has better pattern based memory retrieval?
Experts had better pattern based memory retrieval than novices when it came to memorising board layouts. Experts could remember 91% of layouts whereas novices only received 37% correct.
What is chunking and how does it aid memory?
Chunking is classifying pieces of information into one so that there is less load on memory. It aids short term memory because short term memory is finite.
How many items does Miller (1956) suggest that we can hold in short term memory? What has this been revised down to?
Miller suggests 7 items at a time, but this has been revised to 4.
What did chase and Simon (1979) find when they extended de Groots notion of chunking to a chess paradigm?
Chase and Simon had chess experts and novices reconstruct a chess board whilst having the original chess board in view. They classified each glance toward the original board as a chunk of information. They found that experts required fewer glances thank novices did therefore suggesting that experts hold larger chunks of information in memory. Performance did suffer however when patterns were randomised on the board. Suggesting that expertise may extend past pattern based memory retrieval.
In what other ways do experts out perform novices?
Greater domain knowledge and ability to structure and organise this knowledge. Greater Domain specific memory performance. More planning and higher level information representation.
What strategy did Adelson and soloway (1985) find experts employ when thinking through computer programming aloud?
Found that experts use higher level representation models and modify these until they work
In Larkin (1981) experiment what strategies did novice and expert physicists use to solve physic problems?
Novice physicists used reasoning backwards strategies such that they started with an equation to solve the first unknown, then an equation to solve the next unknown. A means to an end strategy. Experts on the other hand used reasoning forwards strategies such that they started with all the information that they did know and worked out what they didn’t from there.
What are some pros and cons of reasoning forward?
Reasoning forward is more efficient, powerful and less prone to errors. But requires deeper conceptualisation/representation of the problem.
How is the domain specific nature of expertise problematic for education ?
Education is based on the premise that novices can be turned into experts by teaching a wide range of skills that can be transferred to other subjects and the real world. However the domain specific findings of expertise make it hard to argue that the education system is correct in assuming this.
What does the Doctrine of Formal education state?
That information learnt in one capacity broadens the mind and skills of the brain such that it can be utilised in other areas. Not so much the content that is learnt but the general principles and problem solving skills.
What is the theory of identical elements? Describe the study by Carraher (1985) that suggests that this theory may not be accurate.
That if two domains are similar enough then skills learnt in one domain can transfer across to the other. Carraher look at Brazilian children who also worked as street vendors and compared their mathematical skills in a real life context with equations in the classroom. The kids were 98% accurate with their calculations whilst vending but only 37% correct in the classroom. Poor transfer of similar knowledge.
Describe the study by Lehman and colleagues (1988) that defends the Doctrine of Formal discipline.
Lehman et al. Looked at 1st and 3rd psyc, med, law and chemistry students on two problem solving abilities. They hypothesised that psyc and med students would improve within their stats and methodological reasoning abilities over time. They also hypothesised that psyc, med and law would improve on their general reasoning. All hypotheses were supported suggesting that skills do transfer over time.
