A META-ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONS AMONG TRAINING CRITERIA

An augmented framework for training criteria based on Kirkpatrick's (1959a, 1959b, 1960a, 1960b) model divides training reactions into affective and utility reactions, and learning into post-training measures of learning, retention, and behavior/skill demonstration. A total of 34 studies yielding 115 correlations were analyzed meta-analytically. Results included substantial reliabilities across training criteria and reasonable convergence among subdivisions of criteria within a larger level. Utility-type reaction measures were more strongly related to learning or on-the-job performance (transfer) than affective-type reaction measures. Moreover, utility-type reaction measures were stronger correlates of transfer than were measures of immediate or retained learning. These latter findings support recent concurrent thinking regarding use of reactions in training (e.g., Warr & Bunce, 1995). Implications for choosing and developing training criteria are discussed.     

SELF-ASSESSED TRAINING NEEDS: THE EFFECTS OF ATTITUDES TOWARD TRAINING, MANAGERIAL LEVEL, AND FUNCTION

Self-assessment research has concentrated on validity and psychometric issues in selection and appraisal contexts. Little is known about factors that affect self-assessment of training needs. The present study examines the influence of managerial position (level, function) and managerial attitudes toward training utility on self-reported training needs. A training-needs survey consisting of items related to basic managerial, interpersonal, administrative, and quality control skills was completed by 506 lower and middle level managers across four functional areas. Correlational and regression analyses indicated that managerial level and function had some effect on reported administrative training needs, while function and attitudes towards training utility had some impact on self-reported training needs for quality control. Level, function, and attitude were not related to reported basic managerial and interpersonal training needs. The implications and limitations of the results are discussed, and future research directions are presented.     

TRAINING OF PERIPHERAL VISUAL ACUITY

An experiment was performed to investigate whether the duration of exposure and the size of the test objects are factors critical for obtaining a training effect in peripheral visual acuity. Contrary to previous results it is shown that considerable improvement may be obtained even under conditions of flash stimulation, provided that the test object used for training is sufficiently small to be just discriminable. The results are interpreted in terms of shifts in the maximum momentary level of attention from the central to the peripheral area of the visual field.     

EFFECTS OF CHARISMATIC INFLUENCE TRAINING ON ATTITUDES, BEHAVIOR, AND PERFORMANCE

This study investigated the effectiveness of training in 2 components of charisma (charismatic communication style and visionary content). Forty-one business students received charismatic influence training, presentation skills training, or no training. All participants prepared and gave a speech. Groups of 2-3 students ( N = 102) watched 1 of the videotaped speeches and then performed a task based on the speech instructions. Charismatic influence trainees performed better on a declarative knowledge test and exhibited more charismatic behaviors than those in the other conditions. In addition, participants who viewed a charismatic influence trainee performed best.     

IN PURSUIT OF GENERAL BEHAVIORAL RELATIONS

Efforts to develop behavioral technologies from advances in basic research assume that results from studies with nonhuman subjects can, in some instances, be applied to human behavior. The behavioral principles likely to be most useful for application are those that represent robust general behavioral relations. Basic and applied research on behavioral momentum suggests that there is a general behavioral relation between the persistence of behavior and the rate of reinforcement obtained in a given situation. Understanding the factors that affect behavioral persistence may have important implications for applied behavior analysts that justify studies aimed at establishing the generality and limits of the functional relation between reinforcement rate and behavioral persistence. Strategies for establishing the generality of behavioral relations are reviewed, followed by a brief summary of the evidence for the generality of behavioral momentum.     

THE COEVOLUTION OF HUMAN ORIGINS,HUMAN VARIATION,AND THEIR MEANING IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Ideas about biology, race, and theology were bound up together in nineteenth‐century scholarship, although they are rarely, if ever, considered together today. Nevertheless, the new genealogical way of thinking about the history of life arose alongside a new way of thinking about the Bible, and a new way of thinking about people. They connected with one another in subtle ways, and modern scholarly boundaries do not map well on to nineteenth‐century scholarship.     

IN VIVO VERSUS SIMULATION TRAINING: AN INTERACTIONAL ANALYSIS OF RANGE AND TYPE OF TRAINING EXEMPLARS

We analyzed the role of the range of variation in training exemplars as a contextual variable influencing the effects of in vivo versus simulation training in producing generalized responding. Four mentally retarded adults received single case instruction, followed by general case instruction, on washing machine and dryer use; one task was taught using actual appliances (in vivo) and the other using simulation. In vivo and simulation training were counterbalanced across the two tasks for the 2 subject pairs, using a within-subjects Latin square design. With both paradigms, more errors were made after single case than after general case instruction during probe sessions with untrained washing machines and dryers. These results suggest that generalization errors were affected by the range of training exemplars and not by the use of simulated versus natural training stimuli. Although both general case simulation and general case in vivo training facilitated generalized performance of laundry skills, an analysis of training time and costs indicated that the former approach was more efficient. The study illustrates a methodology for studying complex interactions and guiding decisions on the optimal use of instructional alternatives.     

PSYCHOPHYSICAL RELATIONS IN VISUAL PERCEPTION OF LENGTH, AREA AND VOLUME

E kman , G., and J unge , K. Psychophysical relations in visual perception of length, area and volume. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1961, 2 , 1–10. — Subjective length, area and volume as functions of the corresponding stimulus variables were studied in three experiments. The exponents of the psychophysical power functions scattered around 1 for perception of 'real' space. For perspective drawings of cubes and spheres, however, the exponents were about 0.75. From a further analysis of the data it was tentatively concluded that perspective and shadow are insufficient cues to visual volume, and that the subjective scale reflects perception of area rather than volume, especially in the case of small stimuli.     

A FACTOR ANALYTICAL STUDY OF TRANSFER OF TRAINING

An attempt is made to show that the problem of functional similarity between psychological activities, central to the analysis of transfer of training, can be studied with the aid of factor analysis. Some research designs are discussed, and a 'common factor model' for transfer of training presented. The results of an experimental study of transfer within the common factor space of three factors of manual performance, aiming, tapping, and finger dexterity, indicate that the amount of transfer tends to increase as a function of increasing factorial similarity between the activities involved.     

STATISTICAL POWER OF TRAINING EVALUATION DESIGNS

Sample size requirements needed to achieve various levels of statistical power using posttest-only, gain-score, and analysis of covariance designs in evaluating training interventions have been developed. Results are presented which indicate that the power to detect true effects differs according to the type of design, the correlation between the pre- and posttest, and the size of the effect due to the training program. We show that the type of design and correlations between the pre- and posttest complexly determine the power curve. Finally, an estimate of typical sample sizes used in training evaluation design has been determined and reviewed to determine the power of the various designs to detect true effects, given this sample-size specification. Recommendations for type of design are provided based on sample size and projected correlations between pre- and posttest scores.     

技能訓練的几个問題

自从1958年以来,我們对工业生产中的技工培訓、創造革新和改进操作方法等問題进行了一些調查訪問和研究工作,涉及不同性貭的企业和不同工种,遇到了不少心理学問題。技能問題是其中之一。技工培訓的主要內容当然是技能訓练問題,而操作方法、劳动組織、劳动工具的任何改进,对于技能的掌握、改造和提高也都会发生一定影响,它們間接地联系到技能訓练問題。本文仅就我們所遇到的有关技能訓练的几个主要問題談談我們的做法和看法。