A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF ACQUIRING CROSSCULTURAL INTERACTION SKILLS THROUGH SELFCONFRONTATION
Abstract
An experiment was carried out to assess the relative effectiveness of two methods of training USAF military advisors in cross-cultural skills. A scenario was constructed requiring subjects to play the role of an American USAF Captain who had to interact, in specified ways with a 'foreign counterpart,' a role played by an actor. A list of 34 behaviors appropriate to the situation and fictitious culture were provided the subject. The behaviors required ranged from actions, gestures, etc which were similar to those in our own society, to those which were considerably different. Twenty-three male subjects were divided into control and experimental groups and taught the desired behaviors by two methods: (1) Verbal coaching after a role-playing session (2) selfconfrontation by a videotape replay after a role-playing session. Considerable improvement resulted from these methods. The experiment confirmed the effectiveness of self-confrontation as a training technique for the rapid acquisition of complex and subtle skills of interaction - an area of difficulty encountered by USAF advisors on counterinsurgency training missions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0624120
Entities
People
- Donald B. Haines
- Herbert T. Eachus
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory