Video Module 31: Expertise & Intelligence Flashcards
What is expertise?
having extensive knowledge about a particular domain and using it to organise, represent, and repeat information
- Domain-specific, as opposed to intelligence which is domain-general
What are features of expertise?
- knowledge is highly organised and interconnected
—knowledge is often hierarchically organised
—experts are proficient at chunking meaningful information
—efficient storage and retrieval of information
—ease with accommodation of new information: experts are easily able to learn new pieces of info and incorporate those pieces into the info they already have - skilled problem solving
—using qualitative analysis before jumping into using a solution
—having conditionalized knowledge: understanding what approaches apply in certain situations, and what approaches are inappropriate given certain conditions - attending to underlying structures of a problem rather than superficial elements
—perceiving meaningful patterns or chunks
What did Chase and Simon (1973) discover about the performance of chess experts and novices in board memorization tasks?
Chase and Simon (1973) tested chess masters, A novices, and B novices on their ability to memorize chess boards.
2 conditions:
1) middle/end games: chess boards were taken from actual chess games, either in the middle or end of the game
2) random middle/end games: chess boards were randomised
Researchers found that, in chess boards from actual middles or ends of games, chess masters needed the fewest “looks” at the board to complete the whole arrangement from memory; some expert players could even put down 16 pieces with the first look, in comparison to 8 or 4 pieces from the novices.
However, researchers also found that, for the middle-game boards that were randomised, chess masters had the worst performance. For the end-game randomised boards, chess masters essentially had the same performance as the novices.
—This could be because some of the chess pieces were in positions they would never end up in
—Boards from actual games contain meaningful defensive and offensive moves; chess experts are able to chunk information of board layouts using their knowledge of chess moves
What abilities do experts tend to have?
1) better schemas: better abstract, generalised knowledge in their domain of expertise
2) well-organised knowledge in a specific domain
3) spend more time determining how to represent a problem, but select more appropriate strategies and solve faster
4) are more accurate in making judgements and solving problems
perceptual expertise
expertise in identifying and interpreting the relevant elements of an image
- knowing where to look and what features matter
- e.g. Radiologists are trained in looking for injuries on x-ray scans, however the average person likely would have more difficulty with this task
What are examples of our everyday perceptual expertise?
1) We are able to easily categorise/identify animals without second thought
2) We can easily see shapes, even if they are not explicitly outlines
What is the main determiner for becoming an expert in something?
Practice (time spent practicing) is the main determiner in expertise
What is deliberate practice, as opposed to regular practice?
Deliberate practice is that which focuses on improving one skill at a time to foster consistent overall improvement over time
—Experts use deliberate practice
intelligence
a domain-general mental capacity for acquiring and applying knowledge and skills
- intellectual capacity, intellect, brainpower, judgement, reasoning, understanding
- expertise ≠ intelligence
—experts do not have to be particularly intelligent individuals to have extensive knowledge and skill in a particular domain, profession, or area of study
fluid intelligence
the ability to deal with new and unusual problems
- “processing capacity”
- To test fluid intelligence, researchers may use tests requiring speeded performance, reasoning ability, or memory
crystallized intelligence
acquired knowledge that includes both verbal knowledge and experience
- “knowledge”
- To test crystallized intelligence, researchers can test vocabulary
Raven’s progressive matrices
A set of patterns developed to use as part of intelligence tests
- Raven’s progressive measures are an example of pattern completion tasks
- Pattern completion is a common component of IQ tests because it does not rely on crystallised knolwedge
generalised intelligence
- uses one pervasive measure
- speed and executive control
—the time it takes to make judgements (ie. inspection time)
—WM capacity and the ability to direct our attention/control our thoughts
specialised intelligence
- uses separate measures depending on domain or modality
- linguistic, spatial, numerical, etc.
Why do modern psychologists organise intelligence in a hierarchical model?
there are different components to intelligence
- someone may have an average general intelligence, but a high verbal or spatial intelligence
—specialised intelligence is not the same as expertise, unless it is “specialised intelligence” for a specific job, study, or topic (then it is expertise)
