ABSTRACT
Expert performance is first and foremost a high-level skill that is acquired through extensive experience. This is true regardless of the position that one takes regarding innate abilities, genetic determinants, developmental factors, and so on. One simply does not become an expert without acquiring skill through experience in the particular domain. Deliberate practice in the broad sense of effortful engagement with an intent to improve performance seems to be an intuitively accurate way to describe the type of experience that is needed. Given the meaning of expert, it is not too surprising that the most influential theoretical article on expertise in the past 25 years, "The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance", by Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Rkmer, emphasized experience and skill acquisition. Ericsson et al'.s specific focus was on the central role of deliberate practice in acquisition of expert performance.
