Expert error in trouble-shooting: an exploratory study in electronics

It is known that novices show poor problem-solving performances and that th ey engage in a relatively inefficient inferential reasoning mode. Experts s how high performances in routine situations in which they only activate kno wledge. The main purpose of this work was to test the hypothesis that, unde r some conditions, novices may develop a more efficient diagnostic reasonin g than experts, i.e. they may discover the cause of a faulty system conduct ing fewer tests while avoiding fixation errors. This hypothesis mainly reli es on the possibility that experts may be victims of their own knowledge fo rmat (French and Sternberg, manuscript). It is tested in a faulty electroni c circuit troubleshooting task. Data suggest that novices perform better th an experts. Results are discussed with reference to the concepts of schema and expert error. (C) 1999 Academic Press.