Dreyfus model of skill acquisition

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The Dreyfus model of skill acquisition is a model of how learners acquire skills through formal instruction and practicing, used in the fields of education and operations research. Brothers Stuart and Hubert Dreyfus proposed the model in 1980 in an 18-page report on their research at the University of California, Berkeley, Operations Research Center for the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research.^[1] The model proposes that a student passes through five distinct stages and was originally determined as: novice, competence, proficiency, expertise, and mastery.

Dreyfus model[]

The Dreyfus model is based on four binary qualities:

• Recollection (non-situational or situational)
• Recognition (decomposed or holistic)
• Decision (analytical or intuitive)
• Awareness (monitoring or absorbed)

The original model included mastery as the last stage, in their book Mind over Machine, this was slightly adjusted to end with Expertise.^[2] This leads to the full five stage process:

Skill Level/ Mental Function	Novice	Advanced Beginner	Competence	Proficient	Expert
Recollection	Non-Situational	Situational
Recognition	Decomposed		Holistic
Decision	Analytical			Intuitive
Awareness	Monitoring				Absorbed

Criticism of the model[]

A criticism of Dreyfus and Dreyfus's model has been provided by Gobet and Chassy,^[3][4] who also propose an alternative theory of intuition. According to these authors, there is no empirical evidence for the presence of stages in the development of expertise. In addition, while the model argues that analytic thinking does not play any role with experts, who act only intuitively, there is much evidence that experts in fact often carry out relatively slow problem solving (e.g. look-ahead search in chess).

However, the above criticisms are based on a partial reading of the published record.^[5][6] For example, the criticisms fail to take into account the notion of the “deliberative rationality” of experts, which is a kind of expert reflection in action, as developed in Dreyfus and Dreyfus, Mind Over Machine.^[7]

In turn, the challenge posed by look-ahead search in chess is addressed within the scope of the skill model in a 1982 article by Stuart Dreyfus.^[8] With respect to the question of experts calculating into the future, Dreyfus argues that chess is not a suitable example from which to generalize about skillful action at large: “The DeGroot reference to the well-known practice of the chess player of calculating out into the future should not be interpreted as evidence that skilled decision-makers in other domains do likewise. This examination of possible futures becomes feasible in chess because the objective and complete nature of a chess position makes a future position as intuitively meaningful as a present one”(p.151).^[8]

See also[]

• Dreyfus' critique of artificial intelligence
• Chris Argyris' concepts of Action learning
• Four stages of competence
• Skill
• Shu Ha Ri
• Merleau Ponty
• Language proficiency, particularly ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
• Bloom's taxonomy

References[]

Further reading[]

• Benner, Patricia (2004). "Using the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition to Describe and Interpret Skill Acquisition and Clinical Judgment in Nursing Practice and Education". Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. 24 (3): 188–19. doi:10.1177/0270467604265061.
• Eriksen, Jørgen W. (2010). "Should Soldiers Think before They Shoot?". Journal of Military Ethics. 9 (3): 195–218. doi:10.1080/15027570.2010.510861.

External links[]

• The seven stages of expertise in Software engineering