The Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition postulates that when individuals acquire a skill through external instruction, they normally pass through five stages. This model, first proposed by Stuart Dreyfus and Hubert Dreyfus in 1980[1] proposes that the five stages of skill acquisition are: Novice, Advanced beginner, Competent, Proficient and Expert In the novice stage a person follows rules that are context free and feel no responsibility for anything other than following the rules. Competence develops when the number of rules becomes excessive so organizing principles need to be developed and information sorted by relevance. Competence is characterized by active decision making. Proficiency is shown in individuals who use intuition in decision making and develop their own rules to formulate plans. - × × ×