Staying Sharp: Retention of Military Knowledge and Skills

Abstract

This report reviews what is known about forgetting as it applies to military tasks. It includes research conducted by the Army Research Institute as well as related work performed by the Air Force and Navy and leading academic institutions. The report distinguishes the memory for knowledge and skill related to procedural tasks, cognitive tasks, and perceptual-motor tasks. Memory for task knowledge has been demonstrated to be quite good. Memory for cognitive skills has been demonstrated to be quite good. Memory for psychomotor skills varies, depending on whether the task is continuous, such as riding a bicycle, or discrete, such as executing the separate performance steps involved in disassembling a rifle. Throughout the report, figures depict the relative sustainment or decay of a skill as reported in the research literature. A final section concerns the factors that influence the reacquisition of a skill after extended periods of nonuse, as might occur during a mobilization.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA366825

Entities

People

  • John Ellis
  • K. Ellis
  • Mark A. Sabol
  • Robert A. Wisher

Organizations

  • Human Resources Research Organization

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Air Force
  • Basic Training
  • Brain
  • Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
  • Health Services
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Research
  • Mobilization
  • Motor Skills
  • Personnel Management
  • Social Sciences
  • Students
  • Trainees
  • Training
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Theoretical Analysis.