TRANSFER RETENTION FOR VERBAL AND MOTOR TASKS
Abstract
The purpose of the experiment described in this report was to compare Transfer Retention (TR), both positive (+) and negative (-), with Regular Retention (RR) over a range of no-practice intervals using both verbal-learning and continuous-tracking tasks. The experimental design, identical for both tasks, was a 3x6 factorial employing three levels of training task similarity: RR, TR, and +-TR conditions, and six no-practice intervals: 10 min., 2 hr, 1 day, 1 wk, 1 mo, and 4 mo. With two replications within each cell, the total number of subjects employed for both tasks was 72. Each subject served individually for two sessions: a training session and a retention (test) session. The results obtained for the verbal task indicated that changing either the stimulus or the response aspects of a discrete task, treated as a unit, will show low transfer effects relative to a control group and that these differences will persist over time. The results obtained for the motor task indicated that the characteristics of the stimulus inputs during training can be different from those occurring in the operational task system, but the response components should be kept compatible with those actually required. The data also show that the decremental effects of making changes, either in the stimulus or response aspects of a motor task, decrease as a function of the length of the nopractice interval intervening between original training and operational task assignment. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0255684
Entities
People
- Donald A. Goldstein
- William J. King
Organizations
- General Dynamics