| FB-57978-15 | Research Programs: Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars | Barbara G. Montero | Thought and Effort in Expert Action | 8/1/2015 - 7/31/2016 | $50,400.00 | Barbara | G. | Montero | | | | CUNY Research Foundation, College of Staten Island | Staten Island | NY | 10314-6609 | USA | 2014 | Psychology | Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars | Research Programs | 50400 | 0 | 50400 | 0 |
How does thinking affect doing? There is a widely held view that thinking about what you are doing, as you are doing it, interferes with performance. Once you have developed the skill to perform a pirouette, play an arpeggio on the piano, or parallel-park, attention to what you are doing, it is believed, leads to inaccuracies, blunders, and sometimes even utter paralysis. Echoing a theme that one finds in a number of diverse intellectual traditions, the philosopher David Velleman (2008) tells us that, after the requisite training, experts act “without deliberate intention or effort.” But is this true? I am requesting support for the completion of a book, The Myth of ‘Just do it’: Thought and Effort in Expert Action, that develops a theory of expertise according to which expert action is thoughtful, effortful and reflective. Indeed, I argue that experts embody Socratic rationality, as they exemplify both conceptually grounded knowledge of their actions and self-awareness. |