Expertise and creativity What makes experts different than novices? –Usually, we talk about mental tasks (e.g., playing chess, being an accountant) Possible factors: –Learned skills, practice, memory, talent (innate), IQ “Domain” = area of expertise

Practice, background knowledge (knowledge that can be applied to a problem)  very important in expertise Abilities (talent), IQ  less important in expertise Ceci & Liker (1991): compared experts in betting on horses to novices –IQ not a difference between groups

Expert vs. novice chess players (de Groot, 1950s) –Hypothesized that experts had better memories –Tested players’ memories for where the chess pieces were on the board during a typical game  experts had better memory –Plus, tested memories for randomly scrambled piece locations  experts = novices

Conclusion: experts remember information from their domain well –Called DOMAIN-SPECIFIC MEMORY Wagner & colleagues (1991): –Compared expert comparison shoppers to novices Are experts naturally good at math? Compared experts to novices on standard math test  experts no better than novices

Your expertise in a domain is specific to that domain –Domain-specific expertise Theory of deliberate practice (Ericsson) –Intends to explain expertise at highest levels of a domain

Deliberate practice Innate interest in the field Main factor is practice  need a minimum number of hours to become one of the best in your domain –Number of hours is so high, that you have to start as a child (i.e., 3 – 5 years old) –Coach Best are 24 hours, live-in coaches (e.g., mother, father, older brother, older sister)

“deliberate” practice –Highly effective –Self-monitoring: actively working on eliminating weaknesses –Feedback: someone telling you whether you’re doing the right thing (e.g., coach)

Natural physical characteristics –Not as important, because you’re body can accommodate the skills required for the domain –But physiological characteristics can change with practice (e.g., cardiovascular capacity increases as you become a better runner)

creativity Def. of creativity –Develop a solution that is both novel AND useful –Meant to apply to any domain

Synectics (Gordon, 1961) Using analogies to solve problems –Personal analogy: place yourself directly in the situation E.g., imagine that you are the new product your company is trying to make –Direct analogy: find another similar problem that was solved; borrow the solution E.g., create a flying machine, look at birds first