Expert Status and Performance

Expert judgements are essential when time and resources are stretched or we face novel dilemmas requiring fast solutions. Good advice can save lives and large sums of money. Typically, experts are defined by their qualifications, track record and experience [1], [2]. The social expectation hypothesis argues that more highly regarded and more experienced experts will give better advice. We asked experts to predict how they will perform, and how their peers will perform, on sets of questions. The results indicate that the way experts regard each other is consistent, but unfortunately, ranks are a poor guide to actual performance. Expert advice will be more accurate if technical decisions routinely use broadly-defined expert groups, structured question protocols and feedback

Facial Height and Breadth Relative to Dietary Consistency and Oral Breathing in Two Populations (North India and U.S.)

Differences in total facial height and in bigonial and midfacial breadths are compared in developing North Indian (Punjab) and central Kentucky groups, according to two specific etiologies for narrow or excessively long faces: oral breathing and dietary consistency. We find no differences due to diagnosed chronic oral breathing. On the other hand significant changes result from elevated chewing forces during growth in response to less processed food; the changes, however, vary from higher faces in Punjabis to shorter and broader faces in Kentuekians