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Skill Learning and Expertise

Andersons ACT Theory
General theory of learning and problem solving
Anderson (e.g., 1983, 1990, 1993, 1996)
Adaptive Control of Thought (ACT)
Various forms: ACT*, ACT-R
Rely on notion of production systems
A schematic diagramof the major components
If information in working memory matches production rule condition, then
fire production rule
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Skill Learning in ACT
Theory claims that cognitive skills are realized by
production rules
Knowledge initially enters in declarative form
e.g., instructions for how to drive a car
Transformed into procedural knowledge
e.g., skilled driving
Speed of solution of
alphabet arithmetic
problems as a
function of stage of
practice and size of
addendum (add 2,
3, or 4).
Data from Zbrodoff
(1995).
Developing Expertise
What are differences between novices and experts?
How to become an expert?
Speed of learning
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Experts excel mainly in their own domains
experts are masters in their own domain
the skill does not cross into different domains
(Chi, Glaser, andFarr, 1988; Ericsson and Charness, 1997)
Experts perceive large meaningful patterns
in their domain
Experts have extensive knowledge. Allows them to
notice meaningful patterns
Chess masters excel in their recall of the clusters of
pieces that they see.
Programmers can recall key programming language
words in meaningful clusters.
top-down processes -- giving meaning to what it is we
see
(Chi, Glaser, andFarr, 1988)
See anything unusual?
Experts need only a few seconds to see what is
wrong (or what isnt)
Experts augment these incomplete images with
extensive background information
( c o l l a p s e o f t h e u p p e r r i g h t l o b e , u p p e r l e f t i n p i c t u r e ) ( n o r m a l )
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Chess Studies
De Groot (1965)
Instructed 5 chess grandmasters to think out loud
Grandmasters only considered about 30 moves and only
thought 6 moves ahead.
Not that different from novices. However, masters spend
more time on good moves.
Masters rely on extensive experience: 50,000 patterns
Chase & Simon (1973)
Actual Board Position
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Random Board Position
Conclusion from Chase & Simon (1973)
Chess masters only expert with real chess positions.
They do not have better memory in general
Expertise allows chunking of salient information to
promote memory of good moves
Experts organize knowledge differently reflects a deep
understanding.
Increasing Your Digit Span
Number of digits that can be repeated after one presentation
1 4 0 1 9 2 1 0 1 ..
Normal digit span =7 or 8 digits (phone number). Encoding
strategies help
1 4 0 1 9 2 1 0 1 ..
P140
number of
this class
P192 another
number of
this class
Room
number for
class
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Growth in memory span for one subject (S.F.) with practice
Memory span for digits can be trained
you too can have a 80 digit memory span
Experts see and represent a problem in their
own domain at a deeper level than novices
Experts see structural similarities
Novices see surface similarity
(Chi, Glaser, andFarr, 1988)
Novices group these
Experts group these
Chi, Feltovich, andGlaser, 1981)
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What makes an expert an expert?
Talent? IQ? Practice? Genetic factors?
Study exceptional feats:
Memory experts
Chess experts
Musicians
Athletes
General & Inherited Factors
IQ tests*
Short-term memory
Speed of reading
Reasoning ability
Attention
Do not predict
superior performance in a
particular domain
Experts are not better problem solvers in general. Expertise
is domain specific
* IQ tests might predict some success in high-complexity jobs (e.g. scientist)
10 year rule
10 years of deliberate practice needed to attain an
international level: not simply engaging in activity, but
practicing in an effortful, intensive, self-monitored mode
Master chess players spend 10,000 20,000 hours
playing
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What about talent?
Maybe exceptional performance in some area can be
explained by talent an innate predisposition that
predetermines performance in a domain.
Anders Ericsson et al.
disagree that concept of talent is useful or explains
anything
(genius is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration)
this is controversial!
What about musical talent?
Absolute pitch:
Most musicians acquired it for their own instruments
Can be improved by training
Difference between good and exceptional musicians is
related to the amount of practice
Graph fromEricsson et al. (1996) showing the cumulative amount of practice by
two groups of aspiring musical performers (experts and good violinists) and those
who planned to teach music
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The Power Law of Practice
The more practice, the easier a task becomes. How
does a skill improve over time?
Ubiquitous finding: skill improves as power function of
amount of practice
a
T cP =
Amount of practice
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Log( Amount of practice )
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Time to
complete task
Amount of
Practice
Constant
(Slope)
constant
Cigar rolling ability over
10 years of working in a factory
Initial large
improvements
decrease with time
Very difficult to
improve any further
power law of
practice
(Crossman, 1959)
Learning to Mirror Reverse Read
(Kolers, 1979)
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(Kolers, 1979)
Practice increased brain size
Hippocampus & London Taxi Drivers
Brain scans reveal that taxi drivers have much larger
posterior hippocampus than controls
Maguire et al. 2000