THE ROLES OF RECOGNITION PROCESSES AND LOOK-AHEAD SEARCH IN TIME-CONSTRAINED EXPERT PROBLEM-SOLVING - EVIDENCE FROM GRAND-MASTER-LEVEL CHESS

Chess has long served as an important standard task environment for re search on human memory and problem-solving abilities and processes. In this article, we report evidence on the relative importance of recogn ition processes and planning (look-ahead) processes in very high level expert performance in chess. The data show that the rated skill of a top-level grand master is only slightly lower when he is playing simul taneously against a half-dozen grand-master opponents than under tourn ament conditions that allow much more time for each move. As simultane ous play allows little time for look-ahead processes, the data indicat e that recognition, based on superior chess knowledge, plays a much la rger part in high-level skill in this task than does planning by looki ng ahead.