Elite quizzers are renowned for their extraordinary memories – but how do they acquire and retain such vast swathes of general knowledge? Philip Fine and Kathryn Friedlander explore their latest findings on quizzing expertise.
Continue readingOur blog may not have been that active recently, but we’ve been very busy behind the scenes preparing our latest series of free public online lectures, and finally they are here!
Three University of Buckingham experts in our Creativity and Performance Expertise research area will be speaking about some exciting new research areas and the overlaps between creativity, expertise and the real world. They will be taking place fortnightly on Wednesday evenings (UK time – 19.00 BST), starting this week!
On Wednesday 26th July, Dr Gillian Hill will be talking about the rise of AI and its links to creativity in her talk Creativity and AI – Are Robots Smart? You can book your place here.
We are hearing a lot about AI in the news and online at the moment, particularly from experts thinking about this from a technical perspective. But psychology has a lot of offer in this debate too, and Gillian will discuss how psychological theories of creativity can inform the picture.
For our second lecture in the series, Dr Kathryn Friedlander will be talking about what makes film such a mesmerising art. This takes place on Wednesday 9th August and you can book your place here.
In her talk, Kathryn turns the spotlight on the film-industry, zooming in on the features which elevate it to a creative art-form, such as cinematography, mental storyboarding, and conceptual expansion. She’ll also take a look at why some films win Oscars, while others win a Golden Raspberry; and she will explore the personalities of those who develop and communicate the creative story.
Finally, Dr. Philip Fine asks how successful quizzers know so much. This is on Wednesday 23rd August and you can book your place here.
Quizzes are everywhere: on television, in the pub, online, at home on a Sunday afternoon around the Trivial Pursuit board. Expert quizzers all over the country can win large and luxurious prizes, and even TV fame (think The Chasers). But how do these successful super-quizzers develop their remarkable knowledge and have all those facts at their fingertips? Philip will discuss and explore possible answers to this question.
We very much hope you will join us for this exciting online lecture series Robots, Quiz, Action! The Psychology of Creativity and Expertise. We look forward to hearing your comments and questions at the webinars.
Sign up links are above and please do spread the word…as creatively as you can!
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Are you a keen quizzer? We’re looking for participants in a survey exploring the motivations and expertise development of those who take part in quizzing at any level. Could you help? Link is here: Quiz survey
Kathryn Friedlander reviews ‘The Joy of Quiz‘ and explores its relevance to the study of expert performance, puzzle solving and niche hobbies.
‘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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