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18 - Historiometric Methods

from PART IV - METHODS FOR STUDYING THE ACQUISITION AND MAINTENANCE OF EXPERTISE

By
Dean Keith Simonton
Edited by
K. Anders Ericsson ,
Neil Charness ,
Paul J. Feltovich  and
Robert R. Hoffman
Dean Keith Simonton
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
K. Anders Ericsson
Affiliation:
Florida State University
Neil Charness
Affiliation:
Florida State University
Paul J. Feltovich
Affiliation:
University of West Florida
Robert R. Hoffman
Affiliation:
University of West Florida
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Summary

Historiometric Methods

Of the many methods applicable to the scientific study of expertise and expert performance, historiometrics is perhaps the least well known and least frequently used. Therefore, before I can discuss the technique any further, it must first be defined. According to one monograph devoted specifically to the subject, “historiometrics is a scientific discipline in which nomothetic hypotheses about human behavior are tested by applying quantitative analyses to data concerning historical individuals” (Simonton, 1990, p. 3). This definition contains three central concepts:

1. Historical individuals are persons who have “made a name for themselves” or who have “left a mark on history” by some superlative achievement. Possibilities include recipients of the Nobel Prize, politicians elected President of the United States, world chess champions, and athletes who have won medals in the Olympics. It is this feature of historiometrics that makes it ideally suited for the study of expert performance. After all, such accomplishments are presumed to require a high degree of expertise, and when expert performance attains world-class levels in many domains, the result will be awards, honors, and other forms of recognition. Of course, the adjective “historical” actually assumes an underlying dimension that is quantitative rather than qualitative (Simonton, 1990). An athlete who wins a gold medal in the Olympics represents a higher degree of achievement than one who is a national champion, just as the national champion represents a degree above an athlete with even more local eminence.

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The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance , pp. 319 - 336
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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