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Ericsson, K. A., Charness, N., Feltovich, P. J., & Hoffman, R. R. (2006). The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance. New York: Cambridge University Press (899 pp., $65.00, pb, ISBN: 0-521-60081-2).
The primary goal of the handbook is to provide readers with an overview of expertise and expertise performance by discussing the findings of multiple investigations from different theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. The book is comprised of 42 chapters, written by authors who are considered experts in their fields. It provides a rich source of insights and a great foundation for further study, aided by the extensive references supplied by each author. Broad in scope, one of the challenges that the authors faced was to provide a sense of unity to the book. The editors divided the book into six sections clustered around key concepts. A consistent format in presenting the information, transparent writing, and explicit referencing of relevant chapters makes it easy to identify the claims made and the support provided. These features enable the reader to concentrate on the evidence presented, thereby providing an enjoyable reading experience.
Part I, comprised of three chapters, provides an introduction to the scope of the work. In terms of comprehensiveness, the handbook embraces three types of studies of expertise: the structure and acquisition of highly superior (expert) performance, the development of expertise, and how highly experienced individuals accumulate knowledge in their respective domains and become socially recognized experts. To provide a richer context, these issues are discussed from the perspective of different domains, specifically, education, sociology, computer science, and multiple perspectives on psychology, emphasizing basic abilities, knowledge, and acquired skills. The constraint characteristics are quoted below:
[T]he authors have been encouraged to describe explicitly their empirical criteria for their key terms, such as "experts" and "expert performance." For example, the authors have been asked to report if the cited research findings involve experts identified by social criteria, criteria of lengthy domain-related experience, or criteria based on reproducibly superior performance on a particular set of tasks representative of the individuals' domain of expertise, (p. 14)
These constraint characteristics, faithfully honored by the authors, enable the reader to systematically analyze...