THIS GRANT IS A CONTINUATION OF N000141310252 Elements of Extreme Expertise in Cognitive Skill

Abstract

The performer proposes to study the cognitive elements that lead to extreme expertise in skilled performance. The tasks they examine will require the real-time interaction of a single human with a complex, dynamic decision environment. Initial performance will be poor, but over the course of practice, which will span hours and days, some people will achieve mastery and others will not. Successful mastery will require the discovery and timely deployment of strategies and microprocedures, which will require real-time problem solving as well as the skillful interweaving of cognitive, perceptual, and motor operations. The data collection and analyses will examine cognitive elements at the millisecond level to understand changes at the level of minutes, hours, and days. Beyond the task of collecting, analyzing, and tabulating human data in these demanding tasks, the performer strives for predictive validity; by which they mean, the development of computational cognitive models that not only perform the task, but which show the same developmental trajectory across practice sessions as humans. Their goal is to develop cognitive theories and modeling formalisms powerful enough to understand the acquisition of expertise in tasks given to college students that point the way to developing powerful training programs for tasks necessary for fleet operations.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Sep 23, 2016
Source ID
N000141612796

Entities

People

  • Wayne D. Gray

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • United States Navy

Tags

Readers

  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Systems Analysis and Design