EXPERTISE

The achievement of a high level of automaticity and accuracy in solving a problem. A current view has it that the development of expertise in general areas such as driving a car, opening a door or reading is no different from the development of expertise in specialised domains such as playing chess or computer programming. Theories of expertise have been applied to the acquisition of linguistic skills such as reading and writing as well as to second language learning. Especially cited in this connection have been Anderson’s ACT models.

 There are said to be three stages in the development of expertise:

a cognitive stage, where information is acquired, usually as declarative knowledge (knowledge that). The information may take the form of a set of sub-goals. Carried out in sequence, they enable a larger goal to be achieved. The information may need to be committed to memory; and the process can be supported by rehearsal (including verbal rehearsal of the individual stages). Examples: Somebody using a new phone number might repeat it aloud; a child learning to write might say the letters as it forms them. At this stage, the target process is highly controlled, and makes considerable demands upon working memory capacity.

an associative stage, where errors are detected and eliminated and the overall process is simplified. Declarative knowledge gradually becomes proceduralised: i.e. rule-based knowledge develops into a procedure for carrying out the operation (knowledge how). This happens as stages in the process are omitted or combined and connections between the stages become strengthened by practice. Example: the phone user chunks digits into sequences of three or four; the child writes a letter with one sweep of the pen. The procedure which develops is faster and more automatic than working through the steps in the declarative routine; though declarative knowledge may still remain available.

 an autonomous stage, where the procedures become increasingly automatic, demanding less working memory capacity. At this stage, the learner no longer needs to verbalise the process; indeed, the original declarative information may no longer be reportable. Alternatively, it may be retained to support the procedure in case of failure. Example: the phone number user dials the number without thinking about the individual digits; the child employs a set of automatic wrist and finger movements for each letter.

Emergent experts learn to recognise familiar sub-sequences of steps which recur in different contexts. Example: young readers learn to notice analogous spellings. Through using their skill, they develop a range of procedures which enables them to deal rapidly with almost any problem that arises. Many of these problems would require a conscious effort at solution by a novice. Experts also learn to self monitor: they become capable of judging their success or failure in a particular activity and of taking remedial action if necessary (e.g. young readers learn to judge the extent to which they have achieved understanding).

 The basic principle is thus that expertise involves automatic processing, with the result that the expert expends less cognitive effort than the novice and achieves goals more quickly. It has been suggested that there may be an exception to this in writing, where (at least in higher-level processes) greater skill seems to require greater cognitive effort in terms of conscious planning and revision.

Studies of many types of skill acquisition have shown that performance (especially performance speed) improves as a direct function of practice. If a particular skill ceases to be employed, expertise may decay; however, the beneficial effects of earlier practice will survive to some extent.

The effects of practice have been demonstrated through brain imaging. Subjects were asked to produce a verb associated with a noun (example HAMMER ! HIT), and activation was observed in several parts of the brain, suggesting a distributed process involving attentional resources. However, after 15 minutes of practice, much of this activation disappeared as automatic processes took over.

See also: ACT, Automaticity, Chunking, Knowledge, Problem solving, Working memory

 Further reading: Anderson (1990); Posner and Raichle (1994)

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مواضيع ذات صلة

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

FIELD DEPENDENCY

FAMILY RESEMBLANCE

EYE MOVEMENTS

EYE-MIND HYPOTHESIS

EXPERT SYSTEMS

EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL (ERP)

EMPIRICISM

EMBEDDED PROCESSES MODEL

ELABORATION

EFFECT

ECHOLALIA