Generativity of Expertise

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The proposed work expands research on expertise beyond traditional descriptive or normative analyses by creatively using statistical methods to define and measure informational and perceptual patterns of experts. Presently, methods to conduct such analyses of experts do not exist. The proposed studies extend previous laboratory work to a complex field setting (medical decision making). However, the methods and results should be relevant for any domain that requires the understanding and application of large amounts of specialized knowledge. The proposed research investigates the ability of expert physicians to solve novel diagnostic problems. Using a generative approach, hypotheses are developed regarding the knowledge used by physicians to perform a complex diagnosis task. These hypotheses are tested using descriptions of physicians' knowledge constructed from analyses of patient records. Performance on these cases will be examined for evidence of generativity including fluency, strategic problem solving, and use of general heuristics. The study extends previous investigations of generativity to professional judgment and explicitly examines the relationship between perceptual and strategic aspects of problem solving.