Understanding what makes experts so good in their domain of expertise is a
traditional field of psychology, which goes back at least to the monograph of Binet (1894, 1966) on the psychology of skilled mental calculators and chess players (see Bryan and Harter, 1899; Cleveland, 1907; or Djakow et al., 1927 for other early examples). Recently, cognitive science has produced a wealth of empirical data on expertise, and several theoretical explanations have been proposed. In particular, research on expert memory has been flourishing, gathering a large amount of data, which have sufficient power to test current theories. It is timely then to compare some of the main contenders.

Fernand Gobet. Expert memory: a comparison of four theories. Cognition 66 (1998) 115–152.

How does the knowledge of experts affect their behaviour in situations that require unusual methods of dealing? One possibility, loosely originating in research on creativity and skill acquisition, is that an increase in expertise can lead to inflexibility of thought due to automation of procedures. Yet another possibility, based on expertise research, is that experts’ knowledge leads to flexibility of thought.
[the authors} tested these two possibilities in a series of experiments using the Einstellung (set) effect paradigm. Chess players tried to solve problems that had both a familiar but non-optimal solution and a better but less familiar one. The more familiar solution induced the Einstellung (set) effect even in experts, preventing them from finding the optimal solution. The presence of the non-optimal solution reduced experts’ problem solving ability was reduced to about that of players three standard deviations lower in skill level by the presence of the non-optimal solution. Inflexibility of thought induced by prior knowledge (i.e., the blocking effect of the familiar solution) was shown by experts but the more expert they were, the less prone they were to the effect. Inflexibility of experts is both reality and myth. But the greater the level of expertise, the more of a myth it becomes.

Merim Bilalić,Peter McLeoda and Fernand Gobet. 2007.

"Nothing is less real than realism. Details are confusing. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis that we get at the real meaning of things."

-Georgia O'Keeffe