How does the knowledge of experts affect their behaviour in situations that require unusual methods of dealing? One possibility, loosely originating in research on creativity and skill acquisition, is that an increase in expertise can lead to inflexibility of thought due to automation of procedures. Yet another possibility, based on expertise research, is that experts' knowledge leads to flexibility of thought. We tested these two possibilities in a series of experiments using the Einstellung (set) effect paradigm. Chess players tried to solve problems that had both a familiar but non-optimal solution and a better but less familiar one. The more familiar solution induced the Einstellung (set) effect even in experts, preventing them from finding the optimal solution. The presence of the non-optimal solution reduced experts' problem solving ability was reduced to about that of players three standard deviations lower in skill level by the presence of the non-optimal solution. Inflexibility of thought induced by prior knowledge (i.e., the blocking effect of the familiar solution) was shown by experts but the more expert they were, the less prone they were to the effect. Inflexibility of experts is both reality and myth. But the greater the level of expertise, the more of a myth it becomes.

中文翻译：

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专家的不灵活——现实还是神话？量化国际象棋大师的 Einstellung 效应

在需要特殊处理方法的情况下，专家的知识如何影响他们的行为？一种可能性，松散地起源于对创造力和技能获取的研究，是由于程序自动化，专业知识的增加会导致思维的僵化。基于专业知识研究的另一种可能性是，专家的知识导致思维的灵活性。我们使用 Einstellung（集合）效应范式在一系列实验中测试了这两种可能性。国际象棋棋手试图解决的问题既有熟悉但非最佳的解决方案，也有更好但不太熟悉的解决方案。即使在专家中，更熟悉的解决方案也会引起 Einstellung（集合）效应，从而阻止他们找到最佳解决方案。非最优解的存在降低了专家的 由于非最佳解决方案的存在，问题解决能力降低到玩家的技能水平低三个标准差。专家表现出由先验知识引起的思维不灵活（即熟悉的解决方案的阻塞效应），但他们越是专家，他们就越不容易受到影响。专家的不灵活既是现实也是神话。但是，专业知识水平越高，它就越成为神话。