Following Navigation Instructions Presented Verbally or Spatially: Effects on Training, Retention and Transfer

Abstract

Two experiments investigated participants' ability to follow navigation instructions in a situation simulating communication between air traffic controllers and aircrews. A verbal condition, in which instructions were given orally, was compared with a spatial condition, in which commands were shown on a computer display as simulated movements, with the presentation times in the two conditions equated. Retention and transfer were studied a week later when participants performed in either the same or the other condition. In both sessions, participants' initial proportion correct was much higher in the spatial than in the verbal condition, but after three blocks, accuracy in the two conditions was equivalent. Retention was perfect when training and test conditions matched. Training in the verbal condition transferred to the spatial condition but not vice versa. Thus, there is evidence that participants' representations of the movements in the verbal and spatial conditions were not equivalent.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA532319

Entities

People

  • Alice F. Healy
  • Immanuel Barshi
  • James A. Kole
  • Vivian I. Schneider

Organizations

  • University of Colorado Boulder

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Traffic
  • Air Traffic Controllers
  • Cognition
  • Computer Programming
  • Computers
  • Flight Crews
  • Information Processing
  • Instructions
  • Judgment
  • Language
  • Navigation
  • Psychology
  • Three Dimensional
  • Traffic
  • Training
  • Two Dimensional
  • Universities

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience