Task at hand.

Novices are also more likely to selectively search for

confirming information. Two different information search strategies were
identified as well: schema-driven search, and data-driven or sequential search.
Indications are that the choices between schemas-driven and data-driven search
may be more a function of the task environment that the level of expertise.

The area of information search is still largely unexplored. Much research is needed
to assess the impact of search on decisions-making performance, and to identify
characteristic of expert search. It is a task for which the accounting researcher
may have competitive advantages over the psychologist. Information search cannot
be explored in the laboratory with student subjects and simplified tasks.
Information search can only be properly studied with expert decisions makers who
perform tasks that have information search requirements that are representative
of actual tasks

4.1 Beyond knowledge: Other expert characteristics

Since the mid-seventies, knowledge has been viewed as the foundation of

expertise. Expertise has been equated with processing a large amount of domain-
specific knowledge, and becoming an expert has been viewed as a process of
gradually acquiring this body of knowledge and improving one’s knowledge
organization However, evidence is mounting that knowledge is a necessary, but not
sufficient condition of expertise.

Holyoak (1991) identifies many “anomalies” of a knowledge-based model-of

expertise. He wonders, for example, if expertise is synonymous with processing a
body of knowledge, why doesn’t teaching this body of knowledge turn novices into
experts? Holyoak (1991) classifies the theoretical development of expertise into
“generations”, the first generation, which lasted from the sixties to the mid-
seventies, viewed the expert as someone who was particularly skilled at general
heuristic search. The second generation adopted the familiar knowledge-based
view of expertise, as characterized by the slogan “knowledge is power” Holyoak
(1991) argues for the development of a third-generation theoryof expertise that
moves beyond the myopic knowledge focus.

Shanteau (1992a) has studied experts in many different domains, including

weather forecaster, mathematicians, soil and livestock judges, and auditor. He
concludes that knowledge is just one of many characteristics of expertise. He
warns that knowledge Is just one of many characteristics of expertise. He warns
that “knowledge is not sufficient for expertise, [and that] by concentrating on
knowledge and production rules, other aspects of expertise might be overlooked”
(Shanteau 1992b, 19). Shanteau (1992a) proposes three additional groups of
characteristics that separate experts from novices. First, experts are often
display a common set of psychological traits, such as self-confidence, excellent
communication skills, the ability to adapt to new situations, and a clear sense of
responsibility. Second, experts share a common set of cognitive skills, these
include highly developed attention abilities, a sense of what is relevant, being to
identify exceptions to rules and to work effectively under stress. Third, experts
use a variety of formal and informal decision strategies (which could also be
characterized as problem-solving skills). Although