Analyzing the structure of expert knowledge

Knowledge is either explicit or tacit. The elicitation, codification, storage, and distribution of tacit knowledge are extremely challenging tasks that require innovative methods and techniques. This paper reports the results of a study in which the tacit knowledge of domain experts was elicited, represented, and analyzed for validity. The subjects were a group of instructors and students at a USPS training school whose memory structures were analyzed for evidence of two common characteristics of expertise: holistic perception and use of abstract concepts. No evidence of either characteristic was found in the more experienced instructor group but, when the subjects were regrouped based on observed performance, the cognitive models of the high performers contained structural evidence of both characteristics. This finding led to the conclusion that experience alone is not an indicator of expertise. Other factors, such as the cognitive ability to correctly structure those experiences, must also be present.