The DOI matches its Crossref record; 36 of the 38 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The curse of expertise: The effects of expertise and debiasing methods on prediction of novice performance.
Abstract
Experts are often called on to predict the performance of novices, but cognitive heuristics may interfere with experts' ability to capitalize on their superior knowledge hi predicting novice task performance. In Study 1, experts, intermediate users, and novices predicted the time it would take novices to complete a complex task. In Study 2, expertise was experimentally manipulated. In both studies, those with more expertise were worse predictors of novice performance times and were resistant to debiasing techniques intended to reduce underestimation. Findings from these studies suggest that experts may have a cognitive handicap that leads to underestimating the difficulty novices face and that those with an intermediate level of expertise may be more accurate in predicting novices' performance. Organizations often rely on experts to predict the performance of novices. Project managers predict team members' times to complete new work assignments. Marketers and designers predict consumers' abilities to master the use of new products. Teachers predict students' efforts to complete homework and finish exams. The predictions of experts influence the allocation of time and resources to projects, decisions about product design, and the pacing of students' lessons. Predictive errors can have significant negative consequences: employee alienation, failure to meet project deadlines, consumer dissatisfaction, and student frustration or boredom. This study draws on the literature in cognitive heuristics to explore whether experts, as compared with those with less expertise and novices themselves, are more or less accurate in predicting the perfor
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“experts tend to forget how they learned what they know, underestimate the work involved in a given task, and thus sometimes struggle to teach novices.”
From Large language models and the problem of rhetorical debt (2025) · cites this paper as Hinds 1999
Citations
Cites
Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1975) · Utility, Probability, and Human Decision Making · doi:10.1007/978-94-010-1834-0_8 · Cited by 22,650
Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and probability
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1973) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/0010-0285(73)90033-9 · Cited by 9,984 · cited 1×
“The availability heuristic is a cognitive shortcut in which people make predictions on the basis of the information that they have readily available in memory ( Tversky & Kahneman, 1973 ).”
BackgroundUnrealistic optimism about future life events
Weinstein, N. D. (1980) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.39.5.806 · Cited by 4,999
Acquisition of cognitive skill
Anderson, J. R. (1982) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.89.4.369 · Cited by 3,663
Solso, R. L., & Chase, W. G. (1974) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1421395 · Cited by 2,134
Expert and Novice Performance in Solving Physics Problems
Larkin, J., McDermott, J. P., Simon, D. P., & Simon, H. A. (1980) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.208.4450.1335 · Cited by 2,112
Expert performance: its structure and acquisition.
Ericsson, K. A., & Charness, N. (1994) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.49.8.725 · Cited by 2,072
Chase, W. G., & Simon, H. A. (1973) · Visual Information Processing · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-170150-5.50011-1 · Cited by 1,419
Intuitive prediction: Biases and corrective procedures
Kahneman, D. J., & Tversky, A. (1982) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511809477.031 · Cited by 1,162
Exploring the "planning fallacy": Why people underestimate their task completion times.
Buehler, R., Griffin, D. W., & Ross, M. (1994) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.3.366 · Cited by 1,105
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–398 of 398
Fenomenološko učenje in poučevanje – didaktična strategija za sodobno izobraževanje
Licardo, M. (2021) · doi:10.18690/978-961-286-466-8.4 · Cited by 1
Okuhara, T., Okada, H., & Kiuchi, T. (2021) · Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development · doi:10.1177/23821205211032014 · Cited by 1
The Incidental Effects of Sadness on the Planning Fallacy
Mangan, & William, V. (2007) · Cited by 1
Defining Engineering Education Research: The Elevator Pitch
Paul, J., Dawe, N., Ram, S.-A., Pandey, M. R., Thomsen, V., Forrest, R., Cicek, J. S., Rodrigues, R., Rupar, N. J., & Paul, R. (2024) · ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition · doi:10.18260/1-2--41590 · Cited by 1
Kinda, S. (2024) · The Journal of Experimental Education · doi:10.1080/00220973.2024.2364617 · Cited by 1
“Previous research on the expertise reversal effect, the “curse of knowledge,” and tutoring (e.g., Camerer et al., 1989; Chi et al., 2004; Hinds, 1999; Kalyuga et al., 2012; Sweller, 2010) has addressed task-related knowledge within learners or instructors.”
InfluentialDriggs, J. B., & Vangsness, L. (2024) · Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society · doi:10.1177/00187208241273379 · Cited by 1
“…another entity (e.g., automated system) might think or act (Gray et al., 2007) and the tendency of experts to underestimate the dif fi culty of tasks performed by others (Hinds, 1999; Nickerson, 1999), it becomes imperative to understand the judgments associated with automation we passively observe.”
How to eliminate (and even reverse) egocentric bias in perspective taking
Samuel, S., Cole, G. G., Eacott, M. J., & Edwardson, R. (2025) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/17470218251341289 · Cited by 1
“For example, we some-times fail to recognise that others do not share our opinions (Mullen et al., 1985; Ross et al., 1977), expertise (Hinds, 1999), valuations of objects (Van Boven et al., 2000), tactile sensations (Silani et al., 2013), feelings of discomfort (Nordgren et al., 2011; O’Brien &…”
Taddicken, M., & Thoms, C. (2025) · Frontiers in Communication · doi:10.3389/fcomm.2025.1580377 · Cited by 1
“Experts tend to underestimate the complexity of their knowledge and language, leading to inadequate adaptation to the needs of laypeople (Bromme et al., 2001; Bromme and Jucks, 2018; Hinds, 1999; Reif et al., 2020; Taddicken et al., 2020).”
Cale, A., & McNulty, M. A. (2025) · Medical Science Educator · doi:10.1007/s40670-025-02447-z · Cited by 1
“” This disconnect may stem from the “curse of knowledge,” a cognitive where an expert unintentionally assumes a novice learner is more well-versed on a topic than in reality [35].”
Learning to Provide Better Examples for Our Robots
Dragan, A. D., & Srinivasa, S. S. (2018) · Figshare · doi:10.1184/r1/6555392 · Cited by 1
Is knowledge curse or blessing in pure coordination problems?
Chuah, S., Hoffmann, R. F., & Larner, J. (2019) · Theory and Decision · doi:10.1007/s11238-019-09692-w · Cited by 1
Archaeological sites in Mexico: New thinking on socializing the values of heritage sites
Gándara, M. (2016) · Loisir et Société / Society and Leisure · doi:10.1080/07053436.2016.1243831 · Cited by 1
Xie, H., Ji, P. E. N. G., & Zhou, Z. (2018) · Advances in Psychological Science · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1042.2018.01404 · Cited by 1
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599 · Cited by 1
Die Grenzen und Nachteile von Demut
Frank, F. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-62254-4_10 · Cited by 1
Spoznanja in izzivi sodobnih pogledov na učenje in poučevanje v visokem šolstvu
Perše, T. V. (2021) · doi:10.18690/978-961-286-466-8.1 · Cited by 1
Beyond �I Know it When I See it�: WEC and the Process of Unearthing Faculty Expertise
Sheriff, S. (2021) · The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado eBooks · doi:10.37514/per-b.2021.1299.2.06 · Cited by 1
Gilovich, T. D., Griffin, D., & Kahneman, D. (2002) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511808098.045 · Cited by 1
Belief in Optimism Might Be More Problematic than Actual OptimismPreprint
Roy, M. M. (2014) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2463252 · Cited by 1
Acharya, C. (2016) · University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) · doi:10.12794/metadc862852 · Cited by 2
Alin, P. (2010) · Aaltodoc (Aalto University) · Cited by 1
When Less Is More: Counterfactual Thinking and Satisfaction among Olympic Medalists
Medvec, V. H., Madey, S. F., & Gilovich, T. D. (2002) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511808098.037 · Cited by 1
Skuse, G. (2026) · Warwick Research Archive Portal (University of Warwick) · doi:10.82444/warw.33765046 · Cited by 1
A Preliminary Exploration of the Elements of Expert Performance in Legal Writing
Abner, E., & Kierstead, S. M. (2009) · bepress Legal Repository · Cited by 1
Zhang, T. (2024) · Marketing Science · doi:10.1287/mksc.2024.0802 · Cited by 2
Hamid, Z. B. A. (2012) · Repository@Hull (Worktribe) (University of Hull) · Cited by 1
CITUC: Automatisierte Lösungsbewertung im E-Learning durch kollaboratives Filtern.
Loll, F., & Niels Pinkwart, C. (2009) · WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK
Powell, J. (2011) · RMIT Research Repository (RMIT University Library) · doi:10.25439/rmt.27576933
Jucks, R., Brummernhenrich, B., Becker, B.-M., & Bromme, R. (2014) · Swiss Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1024/1421-0185/a000135
Judgment of policy advises; the disharmony between judgment and registered problems
Rentinck, L., & Steehouder, M. F. (2007) · IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (ProComm) · doi:10.1109/ipcc.2007.4464063
Essays on Knowledge Intensive Groups
Zhu, X. (2009) · DukeSpace (Duke University)
Modeling the Assistive Technology Assessment
Simpson, R. C. (2008)
Evidence for the Performance Benefits of Guided Training Methods
Clark, R. E., Yates, K. A., Early, S. D., & Moulton, K. (2009)
The Effects and Mechanism of Task Characters on the Estimation of Task Duration in the Future
冯, 彦. (2015) · Advances in Psychology · doi:10.12677/ap.2015.510074
Dressen‐Hammouda, D., & Drot-Delange, B. (2009) · HAL
How Economic Laypeople Perceive Economic Growth and Inflation
Christandl, F. (2008) · Kölner Universitäts PublikationsServer (Universität zu Köln)
LONG-TERM EPISODIC MEMORY, EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING, AND THE AGE-HINDSIGHT BIAS RELATIONSHIP
Coolin, A. (2011) · Summit (Simon Fraser University)
Tutors' Assessments of a Tutee's Understanding in One-on-One Tutoring
Herppich, S. (2014) · eDiss (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) · doi:10.53846/goediss-4413
The Effects and Mechanism of Task Characters on the Estimation of Task Duration in the Future
Feng, Y., & Huang, X. (2015)
The Impact of External Representations on Providing Online Instructions
Bromme, R., Jucks, R., & Runde, A. (2005) · eScholarship (California Digital Library)
O’Hanlon, C. G., & Roberson, D. D. (2005) · eScholarship (California Digital Library)
Rowell, C. (2011) · Aaltodoc (Aalto University)
Trinh, M. P. (2016) · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · Cited by 1
Promiscuous teleology and folk metaphysics
Rosé, D. (2017) · doi:10.7282/t3f76ggw
Improved codification and transfer of engineering knowledge through human intermediaries
Ruck, T., Albers, A., & Reiß, N. (2017)
Time Prediction Methods and Principles
Halkjelsvik, T., & Jørgensen, M. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74953-2_7
김연준 (2013) · Seoul National University Open Repository (Seoul National University)
Equality, Bias, and the Right to an Equal Say
Chow, J. K. Q. (2019) · Philosophia · doi:10.1007/s11406-019-00135-y
The Research 101 certificate program at a community college
Mohess, N. (2020) · Journal of New Librarianship · doi:10.33011/newlibs/9/7
“In the psychological literature this error in experts’ predicting the performance of their inexperienced charges is called the “curse of expertise” (Hinds, 1999).”
BackgroundMachine Learning and Learning Machines: KI in der Aus- und Weiterbildung
Felińska, E. A., Wagner, M., Müller-Stich, B. P., & Nickel, F. (2020) · Der Klinikarzt · doi:10.1055/a-1178-8934
Hoffmann-Longtin, K. J., Brann, M., & The Professional Seminar Delphi Working Group (2020) · Journal of Communication Pedagogy · doi:10.31446/jcp.2020.05
Prediction Errors in Two Domains
Cooney, G. (2017) · Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University)
Kakovost na področju visokošolskega izobraževanja s poudarkom na učenju in poučevanju
Grmek, M. I., & Bezjak, Š. (2021) · doi:10.18690/978-961-286-466-8.2
Bakračevič, K., & Pšunder, M. (2021) · doi:10.18690/978-961-286-466-8.5
Pojmovanja visokošolskih učiteljev treh držav o učenju in poučevanju
Grmek, M. I., & Krečić, M. J. (2021) · doi:10.18690/978-961-286-466-8.7
Facetten diagnostischer Kompetenz im Fach Mathematik
Philipp, K. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-33450-5_5
Identifying and Overcoming Cognitive Fixation in Pastoral Decision-Making
Ramos, H., & Juntune, J. E. (2021) · ATSK Journal of Psychology · doi:10.55032/atskj.psychol.2021.2102
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.005
Blocking: The Three Traps of Learning
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.007
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.017
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.014
Ambivalence: The Triple Challenge of Negotiation
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.003
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.006
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.012
Ambitious Humility: The Three Steps of Learning
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.011
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.008
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.004
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.010
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.009
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.001
Conclusion and Outlook: Humility and Artificial Intelligence
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.015
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.013
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.002
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.016
Berkel, G. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108863599.018
Chevalier, A. (2013) · Presses de l’enssib eBooks · doi:10.4000/books.pressesenssib.1725
Die Grenzen und Nachteile von Demut
Frank, F. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-65646-4_10
Even Lawyers Don't Like LegalesePreprint
Martínez, E., Mollica, F., & Gibson, E. A. F. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4462766
The IAFOR Conference on Educational Research & Innovation: 2023 Official Conference Proceedings
(2023) · IAFOR Conference on Educational Research & Innovation official conference proceedings · doi:10.22492/issn.2435-1202.2023 · Cited by 8
Rahmani, D., Jafarzadeh, H., & Hess, A. C. (2024) · Behaviour and Information Technology · doi:10.1080/0144929x.2024.2390059
“This reliance can lead to cognitive biases, resulting in incorrect judgments (Hinds 1999).”
Argumentation in co-design for architect–client interaction tools
Mertens, A., Yönder, Ç., Hamarat, Y., & Elsen, C. (2025) · Architectural Engineering and Design Management · doi:10.1080/17452007.2025.2538032
“This reflects their reliance on domain-specific knowledge and deliberate practice, enabling them to articulate detailed, evidence-based arguments (Hinds, 1999; Moldovan, 2022).”
Kinda, S. (2025) · The Educational and Developmental Psychologist · doi:10.1080/20590776.2025.2526337
“In Study 1, participants rated the task as less difficult after observing correct responses, which aligns with the hypothesis and supports prior research findings (Birch, 2005; Camerer et al., 1989; Chi et al., 2004; Hinds, 1999; Nickerson, 1999; Nückles et al., 2005; Roese & Vohs, 2012).”
Dai, F., Dong, L., Huang, L., & Tu, Y. X. (2026) · Information & Management · doi:10.1016/j.im.2026.104305
Tang, J., Guo, Q., Tang, Z., & Shang, Y. (2025) · IEEE International Conference on Future Machine Learning and Data Science (FMLDS) · doi:10.1109/fmlds67896.2025.00031
Skill Modulates Coaching Language in Embodied Motor Learning
Schrum, M., Srivatsa, S., Dees, L., Dixon, E., Gomez, P. R. C., Gopinath, D., Sumner, E. S., Rosman, G., & Chen, T. L. B. (2026) · CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA) · doi:10.1145/3772363.3799008
Okuhara, T., Furukawa, E., & Okada, H. (2026) · Patient Education and Counseling · doi:10.1016/j.pec.2026.109673
Be Clear! Guiding Autistic Students in Higher Education Projects
Koolwaaij, M., & Jacobs, T. (2026) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-19157-1_11
Explanation Depth and Trust Calibration in AI-Driven Financial Advice: A Behavioural ExperimentPreprint
Kashyap, S., & Srivastava, N. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-9888939/v1
Zhang, M., Fan, Z., Du, J., & Wang, J. (2026) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2026.2708474
Bergmann, A., & Knippels, M. P. J. (2026) · Journal of Biological Education · doi:10.1080/00219266.2026.2719536
Herari, N., Riyanto, B., Zulqarnain, W., Ali, H. M., & Akbar, M. (2026) · Advances in computational intelligence and robotics book series · doi:10.4018/979-8-3373-6836-8.ch005
Core practices as anchors for grounding teaching in research on learning and instruction
Nückles, M., & Hipp, H. (2026) · Frontiers in Education · doi:10.3389/feduc.2026.1819272
“This inclination towards an egocentric bias has tellingly been termed “curse of expertise” (Hinds, 1999) or “expert blind spot” (Nathan and Koedinger, 2000).”
Remembering others’ knowledge: Memory, metacognition, and guessing in partner modeling
Ülker, O., & Bodemer, D. (2026) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-026-01944-9
Nutipanich, N., Stitman, W., Bodinthitikul, N., Puangsudrak, M., Nirunpong, K., Deesuwan, T., Pattanaboonmee, N., & Jutarosaga, T. (2026) · International STEM Education Conference (iSTEM-Ed) · doi:10.1109/istem-ed69857.2026.11734408
Metadata
- Authors
- Hinds, P. J.
- Affiliations
- Stanford University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hinds, Pamela J.
- ORCID
- Hinds, Pamela J.
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied
- Published
- 1999-06
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 205-221
- ISSN
- 1076-898X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2192
- OpenAlex
- W2011381597
- Cited by
- 397
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 10.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Family Practice › Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Forecasting Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- expertise, cognitive heuristics, bias mitigation, underestimation bias, expert opinion, task performance prediction
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review