Experience and the water-level task revisited: Does expertise exact a price?

A recently published study (Hecht & Proffitt, 1995) reported that adults in Munich, Germany, whose occupations involved considerable experience with liquids in containers were less accurate on Piaget's water-level task than were comparable adults in other occupations. The present study attempted to replicate that experiment with a North American sample, but using tighter, controls. The resulting data and conclusions contrast with those of the original study and indicate, instead that individuals in occupations that provide much experience with liquids in containers (bartenders, waiters and waitresses) are, in fact, more accurate on two versions of the water-level tusk than individuals of equivalent gender; age, and education in control occupations (salespeople, clerical workers). The data are discussed in terms of both the impact and the limits of experience on spatial-task performance.