The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology) [Paperback]

K. Anders Ericsson (Editor), Neil Charness (Editor), Paul J. Feltovich (Editor), Robert R. Hoffman (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0521600812 | ISBN-13: 978-0521600811 | Edition: 1

This 2006 book was the first handbook where the world's foremost 'experts on expertise' reviewed our scientific knowledge on expertise and expert performance and how experts may differ from non-experts in terms of their development, training, reasoning, knowledge, social support, and innate talent. Methods are described for the study of experts' knowledge and their performance of representative tasks from their domain of expertise. The development of expertise is also studied by retrospective interviews and the daily lives of experts are studied with diaries. In 15 major domains of expertise, the leading researchers summarize our knowledge on the structure and acquisition of expert skill and knowledge and discuss future prospects. General issues that cut across most domains are reviewed in chapters on various aspects of expertise such as general and practical intelligence, differences in brain activity, self-regulated learning, deliberate practice, aging, knowledge management, and creativity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or, put another way, expert performers "whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming" are nearly always made, not born. And yes, practice does make perfect."
--Steven D. Leavitt and Stephen J. Dubner, The New York Times Magazine and authors of Freakonomics


"This handbook was very much needed in a time when new environments and new roles emerge continually - when new experts must be trained or novel expertise programmed on short notice. Moreover, its organization, depth, and effectiveness of communication make it the ideal source for psychological researchers, trainers and instructional designers, and expert system builders who focus their work on the development of new expertise."
--Alan Lesgold, University of Pittsburgh


"The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance brings together reviews by distinguished psychologists and computer scientists of the methods and results of studies of expertise. Besides a guide to the literature, the Handbook provides focused essays on experimental, observational, and analytical techniques for the study of expertise in a variety of domains. Policy makers and researchers alike will find this volume useful for years to come."
--Clark Glymour, Carnegie Mellon University


"This book is a comprehensive and thought-provoking presentation of research and theory of expert performance that brings the field up to date since the seminal publications in the early 1980s. There has been much work on expertise, and this handbook is a significant collection edited by eminent people in the field. Readers will be informed about approaches to the study and analysis of expertise. Various fields are considered, including mathematics, history, memory, and chess. A range of mechanisms and issues influencing development are considered, including intelligence, tacit knowledge, deliberate practice, and self-regulation. Case studies are presented of expertise in creative thinking. This book is recommended to researchers and students working in this major field of cognition in highly competent performance."
--Robert Glaser, University of Pittsburgh


"This field of research on expertise has blossomed over the last 30 years. This book has brought together a who's who of research on expertise. Many of these chapters will be my standard references for years to come."
--John R. Anderson, Carnegie Mellon University


"Rarely have I found a handbook so uniformly valuable. That is, The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance deserves to be read, cover to cover, by all practicing cognitive psychologists, expert system builders who focus their work on the development of new expertise, national policy makers and psychological researchers, and graduate students working in the field of cognitive science. No one will turn its final page without having gained precious information and wisdom that will directly and noticeably improve their practice of expertise and expert performance."
--Clifford Morris


"Many of the chapters of this excellent handbook advocate the idea of becoming an expert is a learning process for which one has to engage in years of deliberate practice. ...This book is suited to academics, parents, educators, trainers, coaches and politicians, or any who foster the development of individuals."
--Remco Polman, The Psychologist


"An excellent review of the role of traits as predictors of expertise is provided, along with an illustration of the role of trait complexes. ....The handbook not only reveals the extensive literature that has been developed over the past few decades but also reveals some of the gaps in our understanding. .... Each of the chapters, in their own way, illustrates a number of worthwhile research topics. .... The editors have truly provided an outstanding volume that has something for students, educators, practitioners, and researchers."
--David J. Schroeder, PsycCritique


"The Handbook is a great reference for anyone interested in personal improvement, including sharpening your financial panache. Reading these research papers will give you a greater understanding and appreciation of what it takes to truly excel at investing or any other human endeavor."
--Anders Bylund

Book Description

This 2006 handbook provides comprehensive information about expert performance. It describes the processes, knowledge, and methods by which people climb to the highest possible levels of human performance. It highlights the research techniques and approaches that investigators use to gain insights about such extraordinary performance.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 918 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (June 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521600812
• ISBN-13: 978-0521600811
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is IT!, February 17, 2010

By 

James D. Nichol (Upper Midwest, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology) (Paperback)

This is the book that got everybody all excited a few years ago. The Harvard Business Review published a paper by K. Anders Ericsson "Making of an Expert". The biggest fans wrote their own books based on Ericsson's paper including; Geoff Covin's Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, Malcom Gadwell's Outliers: The Story of Success, Daniel Coyle's The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How. and a few other books. These other books are more commercially consumable products rather than research results and clinical explanations of talent development.

The The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology) is not light reading and one has to be prepared to put in the time, but make no mistake it is the quintessential book on Expertise and Expert Performance. I refer to this book fairly often in my own work and find it indispensable. Some of the subjects I continue to revisit in this book are:

Historical Accounts of Experts
Breaking Down the Structure of Expertise
Examining the Domains of Expertise
Arts, Sports and Motor Skills
Games and Memory
Mechanisms of Mediating Expertise

If you're a teacher, coach, trainer, mentor, parent or desire passionately to become an expert in any field this is an investment well worth making. I also recommend this book to anyone who is familiar with Dr. Carol Dweck's work on Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, or [ [ASIN:1841690244 Self-theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development (Essays in Social Psychology)]] . The Cambridge Handbook dovetails nicely with her work.

47 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique Book with Interesting Insights, October 7, 2007

By 

Soccer Mom - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology) (Paperback)

One of the coolest books on the market. It is a compilation of articles by researchers who study experts in all different fields such as chess, soccer, medicine, financial advisors, etc. There are many findings that are totally at odds with what most people think it takes to be an expert. The main finding is that most experts are actually made, not born, and that expertise usually follows only after years of deliberate practice and continuous feedback. Many of the ideas in the book can be applied to other fields so it is a good book to read if you want know how to become an expert at what you do for a living or a hobby. It also provides good insights into what to look for when you need to hire an expert, like a surgeon or a lawyer.

I gave it four stars instead of five because even as research books go the writing is a bit dry. However, if there was ever a condensed version of this book written for the masses I suspect it would become a runaway best seller in a fashion to Thomas Stanley's The Millionaire Next Door. The Millionaire Next Door book is a research based book that disproved many of the common perceptions about how millionaires live - most actually do not drive flashy cars and wear designer clothes, but instead live below their means and are very frugal. I think this book could do the same to dispel common misconceptions about experts if it were rewritten for the general public.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Being an Expert, December 5, 2011

By 

Burak Uzel, MD (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology) (Paperback)

I have noticed this book while I was reading "The Social Animal", and been very surprised that it was published in 2006. As a medical specialist, which is an expertise, as well, I can say that, what we call "sense de clinic" or "the gut feeling" is an expert opion, or a product of a function operation with subtle parameters. Those subtle parameters are rarely seen by laypeople, but when noticed, the importance of them is not clearly understood because of its role in its group is not understood. As Confucius said: "The begining of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.", and this book is very well written on expertise, and calls it with its proper name.I definitely recommend it to the people who wants to be an expert on any subject.