The Scientific Study of Expert Levels of Performance: general implications for optimal learning and creativity1

Abstract

Recent research in many different domains of expertise has shown that the large differences in performance between experts and novices are frequently reproducible under standardized conditions and can often be captured with representative tasks in the laboratory. Furthermore, these differences in performance are predominantly mediated by complex skills acquired over a decade, as a result of high daily levels of activities which are specially designed'to improve performance (deliberate practice). The effects of extended deliberate practice are remarkably far‐reaching and include physiological adaptations and qualitative changes in performance mediated by acquired cognitive skills. Most importantly, expert performers have acquired mental representations that allow them to plan and reason about potential courses of action and these representations also allow experts to monitor their performance, thus providing critical feedback for continued complex learning. The study of elite performance also reveals how acquired representation and skills provide the necessary tools for the ultimate eminent achievement, namely the generation of creative innovations to the domain. 1This paper is a revised and updated version of my keynote address at the international conference on Creativity & culture: Talent development in the arts and sciences sponsored by European Council on High Ability, Vienna, Austria, 19-22 October (22 October).