The problem of implicit knowledge

Recognising the existence of different forms of knowledge is a first step towards effective knowledge elicitation. This article takes a brief look at some of the different types of knowledge which human experts possess and then focusses on the problem of implicit knowledge. The fact that much of an expert's knowledge is implicit or tacit in nature is a major problem for those working in the area of knowledge elicitation. Despite this, the topic has attracted little discussion or research. The present article reviews some of the limited literature on the topic and attempts to settle some of the confusion over what implicit knowledge is, or might be. Relevant experiments from the psychological literature are discussed. The paper also looks at possible ways of assessing implicit knowledge and makes recommendations for future research in this area.