The errors of experts: When expertise hinders effective provision and seeking of advice and feedback

Abstract

To be effective, experts need to simultaneously develop others (i.e. provide advice and feedback to novices) and advance their own learning (i.e. seek and incorporate advice and feedback from others). However, expertise, and the state of efficacy associated with it, can inhibit experts from engaging in these activities or doing so effectively. We discuss when and why cognitive entrenchment and reduced perspective taking lead experts to hold misperceptions about others. We then explain how these misperceptions lead experts to provide less helpful advice and feedback to novices and to be less likely to seek and take input from others. We offer insights to overcome these barriers, enhancing experts’ ability to provide and propensity to seek advice and feedback.

Introduction

Experts—those with a high level of knowledge or skill in a particular domain, acquired through experience over time [1, 2, 3]—often occupy dual roles as teachers and learners. As teachers, experts are often responsible for the development of novices’ knowledge and skills, particularly through the provision of advice and feedback [4∗∗, 5, 6, 7∗]. As learners, experts often engage in continual self-improvement and broadening of their knowledge base to maintain and grow their expertise in order to remain relevant, knowledgeable, and adaptable in constantly changing fields. Thus, experts serve not only as ‘providers’ of advice and feedback for novices but also as ‘seekers’ of advice and feedback to sustain and build on their expertise.

Although experts can be a valuable source of advice and feedback, expertise—and the self-efficacy associated with proficient knowledge and skills¹—can also serve as a barrier to the effective provision and seeking of further information. In particular, greater expertise, and the self-efficacy associated with it, results in two types of miscalculated inferences: (1) incorrect inferences about novices' level of performance as well as the type of advice and feedback novices are seeking and (2) incorrect inferences about the utility of others’ advice and feedback. While the first miscalculation results in experts delivering content that is not as helpful as it could be, the second results in experts failing to seek input from others or ignoring such input when provided.

Experts' miscalculated inferences in providing and seeking input from others arise from cognitive entrenchment [1,8,9] and a lack of perspective taking [10] [11∗∗]. Cognitive entrenchment, or cognitive inflexibility with respect to one's domains of knowledge [1], prevents experts from incorporating new ideas [1,8,9] and engaging in perspective taking, or the cognitive process of imagining the world from another's point of view [12]. Experts, particularly those who have successfully overcome a difficult challenge, are less likely to adopt the perspective of those struggling through the same challenges they endured [13]. Because expertise increases cognitive entrenchment and reduces the willingness and ability to take others' perspectives, experts may not recognize what input will be most useful to others [14∗∗], which contributes to a failed ‘shared reality’ and therefore less effective advice and feedback exchanges [4∗∗]. Furthermore, cognitive entrenchment and lack of perspective taking lead experts to overlook the possible value in seeking others' perspectives and input. As a result, expertise, and the self-efficacy associated with it, can inhibit individuals from providing useful advice and feedback to novices and from seeking and taking advice and feedback from others.

We explore how misperceptions resulting from cognitive entrenchment and a lack of perspective taking underlie (1) errors in experts' evaluation of and communication with novices when providing advice and feedback and (2) experts’ lower likelihood of seeking and integrating advice and feedback from others. We then offer possible approaches to overcome these barriers.