Current Issue

Drawing on expertise research and scene perception studies, this study investigates the characteristics of visual expertise in the domain of history by examining historians’ and novices’ visual processing and task performance in an image integration task. Task complexity was manipulated by altering the ease of identifying the topic depicted in a series of historical images. Historians (n = 40) and novices (n = 40) were shown a series of black-and-white images. Their eye movements were recorded, and each participant identified a topic for each series. Their written responses were coded for appropriateness and whether they described the topic as part of a historical process. The results showed that compared to novices, historians exhibited more consistent gaze behavior for each series of images, indicating a systematic approach to interpreting them. Furthermore, novices’ fixation durations increased, and the number of fixations tended to decrease from the first to the final image, suggesting that their gaze became more focused only for the later images. Expertise also affected task performance: In the case of a more challenging set of images, historians provided more appropriate topic answers and interpreted the topics as part of a historical process, indicating that they were able to situate even the more complex series within a meaningful bigger picture. Thus, even in the ill-structured domain of history, domain expertise induces differences in the visual processing and interpretation of domain-related images compared to lack of such expertise.

Taichi “push hands” is a soft martial art that aims at breaking an opponent’s balance by optimizing one’s own individual body organization; it paradigmatically exemplifies the power of cultivating “inner” skills for shaping interaction. Using a micro-phenomenological interaction analysis with a high zoom factor, we investigate expertise for extending one’s body organization into another body and for managing the emergent “collective physics”. Specifically, Taichi experts, as they engage, create inner body configurations capable of absorbing, storing, and channeling energy across bodies. When these inner skills are combined with precise relative positioning, subtle manipulation, and sensory subterfuge collective configurations can arise that effectively compromise the opponent’s upright balance, for example, by giving rise to elastic rebounds, “uprooting” effects, or by over-amplifying their force. We propose to combine this thick description of skill, which is firmly grounded in the experts’ perspective, with the framework of interpersonal synergies. The aim is to trace how interpersonal synergies arise through interaction, to take stock of their micro-scale components and how the latter interconnect, and on this basis to elucidate the relationship between individual action and macro-scopic properties of the collective dynamic. Push hands can be explained as a process in which “nested” motor synergies are skillfully extended into interpersonal synergies that span two myofascial, skeletal, and balance systems. Taichi experts create such extensions by building context-sensitive (i.e., “softly assembled”) force chains that produce so-called “passive dynamic” effects between bodies, hereby enabling a successful push.

The aim of this study was the conceptual replication of a study assessing when experts trust their intuition. Medvegy et al. (2022) found that experts generate options based on option validity that matches the current situation, generate only a few options, and often pick the first one generated. Results vary based on expertise assessed by Elo ratings. We tested whether these results hold when comparing individuals with a slightly lower, but still expert, level of expertise. Therefore, we conceptually replicated the exact design and stimuli and asked chess players for their intuitive choice, further candidate moves, and the best choice. We predicted that the findings in experts would replicate and be due to situational factors, such as when the task prompts more strategic rather than tactical choices in chess. Results indicate effects of both expertise and task characteristics, indicating a broader account of when individuals close to expert level trust their intuition. However, unlike the original study, lower-rated players did not show a clear quality advantage of the first generated option, suggesting that the Take-the-First heuristic becomes reliably effective only at higher levels of expertise. At the same time, intuitive choices were not worse than deliberate ones, and players were especially vulnerable in tactical situations under time pressure. Conclusions are drawn regarding when to trust intuition.

I read with interest the work by Otte, Yearby, and Myszka (2024), “The Role of Skill Acquisition Specialists Within Sports: Why Every High-performance Sports Organization Needs These Experts!” I commend these authors for their passionate advocacy for the role Skill Acquisition Specialists (SAS) could play in high performance sport. However, while I have previously shared these authors’ perspectives, I now consider that the inclusion of SAS into high-performance sports organisations is likely premature. Through this commentary I will argue that the real skill acquisition specialists are sports coaches and hence, currently, SAS would be superfluous in many organisations.

This paper responds to two recent papers by Dr. Job Fransen (2026a, 2026b) arguing that integrating Skill Acquisition Specialists (SAS) into high-performance sport is “likely premature” and “too soon for the big leagues” due to limited evidence and potential conflicts with coaching expertise. We challenge this position by demonstrating that SAS offer unique value by ensuring that principles of skill acquisition science are not only understood but also effectively applied in practice. Furthermore, rather than competing with coaches, SAS play a complementary role, supporting them in designing representative learning environments and purposefully manipulating constraints in practice to promote adaptable performance during competition. Though evidence may be relatively limited at the moment, the success of SAS within high-performance sports organizations that are early adopters of the role is promising. As even more qualified individuals find themselves within SAS roles, the state of the position will continue to evolve and adapt, being (re)defined over time.