Skill Decay: A Comparative Assessment of Training Protocols and Individual Differences in the Loss and Reacquisition of Complex Skills

Abstract

It has been consistently demonstrated that the active interlocked modeling (AIM) protocol, a dyadic training protocol developed by Shebilske, Regian, Arthur, and Jordan (1992), achieves a 100% increase in training efficiency over a control individual-trainee based condition. The purpose of the present study was to replicate this finding as well as to investigate its robustness in terms of skill loss and reacquisition. Thus, we compared the AIM-dyad training protocol to a standard individual protocol regarding the acquisition of a complex skill (i.e., Space Fortress: cf Mane & Donchin 1989). More importantly, skill loss after an 8-week non-practice interval and skill re-acquisition was also investigated. Despite half as much hands-on practice, the performance of dyadic trainees did not differ from that of individuals on tests of skill acquisition. loss and re-acquisition. These findings provide strong support and justification for the ongoing use of innovative dyadic protocols for the training of pilots and navigators in both military an non-military settings.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA417195

Entities

People

  • Eric A. Day
  • Theresa L. Mcnelly
  • Winfred Arthur Jr.
  • Winston Bennett Jr.

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Applied Psychology
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Information Processing
  • Military Research
  • Motor Skills
  • Psychology
  • Regression Analysis
  • Reliability
  • Social Psychology
  • Students
  • Trainees
  • Training
  • Video Games

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Graph Algorithms and Convex Optimization.
  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.

Technology Areas

  • Space