Centre for the Study of Expertise
Director Prof Fernand Gobet, Professor of Psychology, School of Social Sciences and Law ( +44 (1895) 26 54 84 + Brunel University, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, Middlesex, UK
c Members Expertise
How do people become experts and what are there general principles underlying the acquisition of expertise regardless of the specific domain? To answer these questions fully we need to understand expertise on a number of levels ranging from the neural level (what are the brain mechanisms underpinning expert performance?) to the social and cultural level (what is expert knowledge, and how is it communicated and interpreted? How are experts defined and selected by society? How can knowledge be taught effectively in order to turn novices into experts?). Furthermore, to understand the impact of expert knowledge on society we need to understand its role within a legal framework (what is the role of the expert and expertise within the legal system?). This new Centre, which is hosted by the School of Social Sciences and Law, treats the subject from a range of perspectives and disciplines, including Business, Law, Neuroscience, Psychology, and Sociology. It addresses itself to providing a unified set of research data and ideas that will enhance and systematise the understanding of expertise, and thus serve as a resource for cultural and social innovation and development.
Experts play a key role in our society—what would a society be without scientists, engineers, physicians, or artists? In recent years, substantial progress has been made in understanding the biological, psychological, and cultural bases of expertise. But while expertise is a common research topic, it is typically studied by each science in isolation. Indeed, definitions of what constitutes an expert differ across the sciences with, for example, Psychology emphasizing exceptional performance and Sociology focusing on experts in the professions. Given its importance and topicality, the necessity of studying expertise from the vantage point of several disciplines in parallel is clear.
Interdisciplinarity
This Centre brings together researchers studying expertise using the tools offered by disciplines including Neuroscience, Business, Psychology, Education, Sociology, and Law. It also employs formal approaches, in particular computational modelling, to understand the complex dynamics of the development and social interaction of expertise.
Scientific objectives and main areas of research Previous research has provided substantial knowledge on the scientific basis of expertise, which enables us to propose ambitious but realistic long-term objectives for the Centre. These are:
Applications
A strong intellectual drive behind CSE is the belief that a better understanding of expertise will improve quality of life. In particular, a key contribution of the Centre will be that the findings about expertise will impact education and enable our society to train better experts (including scientists), who in turn will be in a better position to train their students and apprentices. Related centres of research: |
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