Acquisition & Retention of Basic

Components of Skill

Robert W. Proctorand

Motonori Yamaguchi

Army Research Office Grant W9112NF-05-1-0153

Training Knowledge and Skills for the Networked Battlefield

Acquisition & Retention of Basic Components of Skill

Use basic tasks that isolate the perceptual, cognitive, and motor components of skill.

Examine factors that influence acquisition and retention of these skill components.

Goal: To obtain evidence for basic principles of skill acquisition that can be applied to more complex task environments.

Acquisition & Retention of Basic Components of Skill

Initial focus on response selectionThis is our area of primary expertiseResponse selection is the aspect of information

processing that benefits most from training (Welford, 1976)

Emphasis on stimulus-response compatibility because it is a pure measure of response-selection efficiencyS-R compatibility properSimon effect

Transfer of Newly Acquired Associations

The new procedures acquired from training can affect performance when transferred to a different task or environment.

Important to determine how specific this transfer is.

Can get not only quantitative but also qualitative changes Focusing on the wrong aspect of training will not help Generalization can occur if people understand the deep

structure of the task

Influence of a Prior Incompatible Location Mapping on the Simon Effect

Practice with an incompatible mapping and transfer to a pure Simon task

Practice Session Transfer Session

Green Red

Influence of a Prior Incompatible Location Mapping on the Simon Effect

Proctor and Lu (1999) Practiced with an incompatible mapping (310

trials per day) for 3 days and transferred to a Simon task (600 trials)

The Simon effect reversed to -24 ms

Vu, Proctor, & Urcuioli (2003)Practiced 72 trials with an incompatible mapping

and transferred to a Simon task with a delay of: 5 minutes—The Simon effect reversed (-9 ms) One week—The Simon effect reversed (-21 ms)

What is Learned?

Associations between specific stimuli and responses?

More abstract, “rule-like” procedures?

Evaluated by crossing practice and transfer dimensions

Practice: vertical or horizontal

Transfer: horizontal

DesignPractice Dimension Transfer Dimension

Horizontal Horizontal

Vertical

Green Red

Results- Transfer to Horizontal Simon Task

Practice Dimension

Practice Trials Horizontal Vertical Control 18*

72 3 15*

600 -18* 2

*denotes that the effect was significant at the .05 level

Generalization Across Stimulus Modalities

Transfer session: Auditory Simon task Practice session: Incompatible mapping of

left-right auditory or visual stimuli to left-right keypressesA prior study with 72 practice trials suggested

no transfer effect to auditory taskVaried amount of practice: 0 (control), 72,

300, or 600 trials

Results- Transfer to Auditory Simon Task

Practice Dimension

Practice Trials Auditory Visual Control 47*

72 41* 42*

300 14* 45*

600 16* 37*

*denotes that the effect was significant at the .05 level

Training with Mixed Mappings and Tasks

Effects of having to maintain multiple associations concurrently

Mixed compatible and incompatible mappings:Longer RT overallBenefit for compatible mapping largely

eliminated Does this finding generalize to a

simulated environment?

Mixed Mappings and Tasks

Task: Fly simulated aircraft, maintaining altitudeWhile flying, squares appear on the top right

or top left of the screen Green square: Turn yoke in that direction Red square: Turn yoke in opposite direction

Four trial blocks Pure compatible Pure incompatible Mixed compatible and incompatible (2 blocks)

Mixed Mappings and Tasks

450

500

550

600

650

700

750

Pure Mixed

Compatible

Incompatible

 

 

 

85

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Research Plans Basic Components of Skill

Transfer of newly acquired associations

Training with mixed mappings and tasks

Performance of multiple tasks

Integration with Other Work

Training Principles (e.g., specificity of training; procedural reinstatement)

Predictive Modeling using ACT-R and other models