Even so, there were difficulties with chunking theory. It could not fully explain some aspects of memory, such as the ability of experts to perform their feats while being distracted (a favorite tactic in the study of memory). K. Anders Ericsson of Florida State University and Charness argued that there must be some other mechanism that enables experts to employ long-term memory as if it, too, were a scratch pad. Says Ericsson: "The mere demonstration that highly skilled players can play at almost their normal strength under blindfold conditions is almost impossible for chunking theory to explain because you have to know the position, then you have to explore it in your memory." Such manipulation involves changing the stored chunks, at least in some ways, a task that may be likened to reciting "Mary had a little lamb" backward. It can be done, but not easily, and certainly not without many false starts and errors. Yet grandmaster games played quickly and under blindfold conditions tend to be of surprisingly high quality.
Ericsson also cites studies of physicians who clearly put information into long-term memory and take it out again in ways that enable them to make diagnoses. Perhaps Ericsson's most homely example, though, comes from reading. In a 1995 study he and Walter Kintsch of the University of Colorado found that interrupting highly proficient readers hardly slowed their reentry to a text; in the end, they lost only a few seconds. The researchers explained these findings by recourse to a structure they called long-term working memory, an almost oxymoronic coinage because it assigns to long-term memory the one thing that had always been defined as incompatible with it: thinking. But brain-imaging studies done in 2001 at the University of Konstanz in Germany provide support for the theory by showing that expert chess players activate long-term memory much more than novices do.
This article was originally published with the title The Expert Mind.
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6 Comments
Add CommentFantastic information. It would have been nice to represent a differing opinion for balance, but the data and analysis certainly raises some interesting points to consider as we look at educating/training people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGoodChess player can play by Intution. Intution can be described as below:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisKnowledge = n* practice
Intelligence= correct use of knowledge.
Wisdom = Intelligent use of knowledge
Intution = knowledge*Intelligence*wisdom
Those who are interested by the topic addressed in this article will be fascinated by Malcolm Gladwell's latest book: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think this is an interesting article but the study is flawed because no attempt has been made to define or describe natural ability or innate talent.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisInventory the participants innate abilities, using a process such as Highlands, then come back and write the article again with a more reliable benchmark.
This is a trick :) He simply makes a move, observes his opponents move, and then on the next table makes that move against his new opponent.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDerren Brown, British magician and illusionist extraordinaire, did this with 20 British Grandmasters and beat ALL of them, imitating the fellow GM's moves. It was basically like Grandmaster vs Grandmaster
@Jayhorn:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisObviously Derren Brown did not 'beat' ALL of them - that would be impossible if they are being played one against another. For every game he 'won', he would also 'lose' one, because he is playing two halves of the same game, and therefore would never be able to win more than half the games. In fact, if I recall, there were only a handful of GMs, along with an assortment of lesser masters, and one amateur who was president of some university chess club (which may sound impressive to a layman but has no bearing on chess playing ability). Derren Brown acheived a plus score in the trick by playing the masters against each other and beating the weaker player himself. A better magic trick would be to get 20 British GMS in the same room, as I don't think even the British Championship can manage that.
As for Capablanca, and any other Grandmaster who ever gave a simultaneous display, this trick does not apply (nor would the grandmaster want to use it anyway) as the grandmaster always plays white in every game, making it impossible to play one player against another.