ABSTRACT
Experts are individuals able to perform at the very top of an identifiable skill area. For example, this could be a profession, a trade, a sport, or areas such as music and the arts. In some areas of human life, however, it is difficult to find individual experts. By definition, expertise has to represent superior performance repeated over time. Consider, for example, one well-researched area where it is difficult to identify experts – that of stock-broking or consistently picking financial stocks that are likely to rise in value. Individual brokers have good years and bad years. There is very little, if any, continuity across years, and people in this field do not perform better with experience or seniority. Several studies have shown that the average person, the ‘man or woman in the street’, often outperforms experienced brokers in putting together financial portfolios. However, in many areas of skilful performance, including classroom teaching, there is considerable evidence supporting the presence of expertise.
