I think this needs to be said: if you’re trying to get better at thinking, looking at expert-novice differences (and, specifically the bits of expertise research that studies expert-novice differences) is a really, really good idea.
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Some additional context for this: a huge chunk of expertise research is taking all the various investigative tools (cognitive task analysis, think-aloud protocols, etc) and then using them on both experts and novices to illustrate the differences.
This is a very useful trick!
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So, my recommendation is to actively seek out papers that do this, but also to perhaps use this as an informal inquiry technique.
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2/ I think I have one. Ask:
"What would a novice get wrong here?"
The 'here' is key. The question must be asked in the context of a story, a case study, or a decision point. You MUST get the expert to talk about interesting cases they've experienced.
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I did a tweet recently saying that ‘tft folk’ (thinking: the tool makers) were overly focused on plugins and features but not the cogsci of externalised thinking, and the pushback I got was that cogsci was quite useless to dig into.
But maybe they’re looking at the wrong places?
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One of the coolest books I've read is Jerry Silman's "The Amateur Mind," in which he asks his chess students of various levels to share their thinking out loud while they look at a position.
Very cool to see the differences
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This is overly reductive and not scientific, but I see expert = intuitive process.
I try to emulate behaviors/patterns/frameworks and build intuition through questions.
I rarely waste time asking about implementation/execution details, I work them out as I go.
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I find that I get far more value out of someone by trying to understand their intuitive process instead of asking them for specific advice.
Specific advice is immediately useful, but narrowly applicable. Emulating behaviour and building intuition is slow but widely applicable.
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