Tag Archives: Expert

Medical Student or Qualified Doctor? We need your help!

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Want to help improve medical education? Fancy the opportunity to win a £40 Amazon voucher? Want to boost our donation to Médecins Sans Frontières /Doctors Without Borders (MSF)? Know any doctors who could help? Paige Vanleer explains what to do …

Medical Survey QR CodeI’m Paige Vanleer, and I’m currently engaged in an MSc project at the University of Buckingham which aims to help us ensure that the process of medical education is as effective as possible. As part of my research, I’ve launched a survey comprising a series of questions about the professional status, medical training and thinking styles of trainee and qualified doctors, and I’m still looking for more participants before it closes. Do you, or anyone you know, qualify for the survey? Continue reading →

Book Review: ‘The Joy of Quiz’ by Alan Connor

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Kathryn Friedlander reviews ‘The Joy of Quiz‘ and explores its relevance to the study of expert performance, puzzle solving and niche hobbies.

Joy of Quiz‘Here’s a question: ‘Why do we spend our childhood in fear of exams, then quite willingly put ourselves through pretty much the same tests as adults?’ … The short answer is: fun. The joy of quiz is in making a gratifying game out of all that knowledge sploshing around in our heads – fascinating information, but information for which our jobs and our personal lives stubbornly refuse to find any use’.

So begins this engaging romp through the world of quizzing: an engrossing compendium of trivia and analysis drawn from social history, psychology and real-life ‘behind-the-scenes’ knowledge, based on Alan Connor‘s own experiences as a quiz editor for the BBC2 quiz Only Connect.

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What makes an expert cryptic crossword solver?

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Study reveals what it takes to become a cryptic crossword expert – and it’s more than just practice

You may have heard of the “10,000-hour rule”, the belief that it takes thousands of hours of intense practice to become an expert in something. Training and practice are clearly vitally important in many highly competitive areas such as sports, music and chess. But is that really all it takes to achieve greatness?

Recent research suggests that other factors such as genetics influence the likelihood that you will try, enjoy and excel at a performance activity. We decided to test that theory in the highly challenging arena of cryptic crossword solving. Continue reading →

What’s it all about?

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Ever wondered why some people are better at playing the violin than others?  Mystified by those who knock off the Times cryptic crossword in only 5 minutes? Curious as to why some people pursue niche hobbies – like campanology, mycology or button-collecting?

Want to know what makes people creative (or not), and how creative thinking might be enhanced? So do we!

Based at the University of Buckingham, our CREATE research hub is dedicated to probing these questions, and more. Together with our guest bloggers and collaborators from other Universities, we’ll be sharing our thoughts and discoveries along the way.

Want to get in touch or write something for us? Leave a comment below, or check out our About page to find out more. Or contact us here.