Adaptive skill as the conditio sine qua non of expertise

Ward, Paul; Gore, Julie; Hutton, Robert; Conway, Gareth E; Hoffman, Robert R

Abstract

This critical interpretive research synthesis is on the topic of adaptation and skill. After an initial identification of 1995 abstracts we identified and collated a database of 140 publications that explicitly reference expertise and adaptation. We found that empirical data on adaptive skill are sparse and the literature base is largely conceptual. We differentiate the adaptive nature of expertise from routine or every day skill, and we redress the balance between what constitutes expertise and when expertise matters. We present an overview of current models of expertise including a project that we completed for the UK Ministry of Defence on the nature of adaptive skill. We discuss implications for future training by presenting empirically based training principles designed to develop adaptive skill. We assert that adaptive skill is the conditio sine qua non of expertise and conclude with suggestions for further research.

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Acceptance Date: Jan 16, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Feb 14, 2018
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Aug 18, 2022
• Journal: Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
• Print ISSN: 2211-3681
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 35-50
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2018.01.009
• Keywords: Applied Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Experimental and Cognitive Psychology; Adaptive skill,; Expertise; Training; Critical interpretive synthesis
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9887055
• Publisher URL: https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1016%2Fj.jarmac.2018.01.009