A SUMMARY OF RESEARCH IN TRAINING FOR ADVISORY ROLES IN OTHER CULTURES BY THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES LABORATORY.
Abstract
Due to the crucial need for improved interpersonal relations between United States Air Force technical advisors overseas and the indigenous persons with whom they work, a program of research has been established to improve methods for training cross-cultural communicative skills. This research is divided into four parts: (1) identification in the field of critical incidents and analysis of interactions between Americans and native persons; (2) development, testing, and evaluation of means of collecting information on other cultures; (3) development in the laboratory of new training programs, using Air Force personnel in actual operational contexts. Each of these aspects is described, as is a major laboratory experiment. This study compared two training methods for teaching cross-cultural interaction skills. Subjects trained under self-confrontation (viewing videotape recordings of their performances in role-play situations) learned faster and attained a higher terminal level of performance than subjects who received a standard training manual to read. Subjects with positive attitudes toward the foreign culture learned faster than subjects with neutral or negative attitudes. Retention of skills learned through self-confrontation was high over a 2-week interval. A discussion of future research employing video-tape and the self-confrontation phenomenon is given. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0648517
Entities
People
- Philip H. King
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory