Changes in factor structure of a complex psychomotor test as a function of practice

Scores obtained at eight different stages of practice on the Complex Coordination Test together with scores on 18 reference tests were subjected to a Thurstone Centroid Factor Analysis. Nine meaningful factors were identified in the experimental battery. The results indicated considerable, but systematic, changes in the factor structure of the Complex Coordination Test as practice on the task was continued. The test became less complex (factorially) as practice was continued. Moreover, there was a change in thenature of the factors contributing variance at early and later stages of practice. Implications of the findings are related to certain problems of learning theory, psychomotor test development, and criterion analysis. Skill Components Research Laboratory. The opinions or conclusions contained in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or indorsement of the Department of the Air Force. The writers are indebted to Dr. Jack A. Adams for the basic data on which this analysis is based.     

Motor skill acquisition and retention as a function of average feedback, summary feedback, and performance variability

Summary feedback involves withholding feedback from subjects until the last trial in a block is completed, and then presenting feedback about each trial. A variation of this method, called average feedback (Young & Schmidt, 1992), presents subjects with only the mean of the trial block. We investigated whether these methods have similar effects on acquisition and retention of a simple motor skill. Five groups of subjects (n = 16 per group) performed 60 acquisition trials of an aiming task involving both spatial and temporal accuracy. We presented average and summary feedback based on either 5-trial blocks or 15-trial blocks and compared these schedules with every-trial feedback. During acquisition, all groups improved with practice, with a slight tendency for the every-trial condition to have less absolute error than the longer summary and average conditions. Analysis of delayed no-feedback retention tests, however, revealed a strong advantage for the 5-trial summary and average conditions compared with the every-trial condition. In addition, we found that for long blocks of acquisition trials without augmented feedback, the performance variability of those trials was associated with retention performance. Results are discussed in terms of how these different manipulations may make feedback less useful during acquisition, but foster the use of certain information processing activities that enhance overall learning.     

Induction and retention of kinesthetic aftereffects as a function of number and distribution of inspection trials

Measures of kinesthetic aftereffects were made for 240 Ss in 15 groups. Each group was tested with a combination of number of 30-sec. inspection periods (5, 10, or 15) and time between inspection periods (0, 10, 30, 60, or 90 sec). The number of inspection periods had a significant effect on size of aftereffect and on residual aftereffect 15 min later. The maximum aftereffect followed the 10 period inspection (5 min inspection). Distribution of inspection periods in time had no significant effect on these measures of aftereffect. In a second experiment, distribution of inspection periods in time had no effect on induced aftereffect or on residual aftereffect 24 h later. There was significant residual aftereffect after 24 h which was significantly related to amount of aftereffect originally induced.     

Cognitive, perceptual-speed, and psychomotor determinants of individual differences during skill acquisition

The authors describe a series of experiments that explore 3 major ability determinants of individual differences in skill acquisition in the context of prior theory (e.g., P.L. Ackerman, 1988) and subsequent empirical and theoretical research. Experiment 1 assessed the predictability of individual differences in asymptotic skill levels on the Kanfer-Ackerman Air Traffic Controller (ATC) task. Experiment 2 provided an exploration of the construct space underlying perceptual-speed abilities. Experiment 3 concerned an evaluation of theoretical predictions for individual differences in performance over skill development in a complex air traffic control simulation task (TRACON) and the ATC task, with an extensive battery of general and perceptual-speed measures, along with a newly developed PC-based suite of psychomotor ability measures. Evidence addressing the predictability of individual differences in performance at early, intermediate, and asymptotic levels of practice is presented.     

Acquisition and retention of a letter-detection skill

In two experiments, we examined the acquisition and retention of a letter-detection skill with a consistent-mapping procedure. In Experiment 1, subjects were trained from 0 to 4 sessions at detecting the letter H in displays containing random letters, and retesting occurred after a 1-month delay. Performance improved and in some cases became more automatic, and the performance level was maintained over the retention interval. When tested with a prose passage, the high error rate on the word THE was eliminated after training and after the retention interval, regardless of the amount of training. In Experiment 2, two subjects were given 12 sessions of training followed by a retention test 6 months later. For 1 subject there was also a retention test 15 months after acquisition. Performance improved dramatically with training, and substantial but not complete automaticity was achieved. Performance on the retention tests was close to the final acquisition level. The surprising lack of forgetting in this study was contrasted with the substantial forgetting typically found in studies of verbal learning.     

Mental and physical practice schedules in acquisition and retention of novel timing skills

Research has indicated that random physical practice of a motor skill enhances effects of long-term learning more than blocked practice. Moreover, the use of mental rehearsal coupled with physical practice has been shown to accelerate motor skill acquisition in many different contexts and is better than no practice at all. Others have found that some mental rehearsal strategies are better than others for maximizing performance. This study examined how combinations of mental and physical practice schedules affected the learning of a coincidence timing task. 30 college students were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups involving combinations of imagery and physical practice. Three tasks were utilized, each involving a particular speed (slow, medium, fast) on the Bassin Anticipation Timer. Conclusions were based on a three-way analysis of variance, using type of mental practice, type of physical practice, and sex as between-group factors, conducted separately for acquisition and retention trials. Type of physical practice was significantly related to performance. On the acquisition trials, random practice was associated with larger mean errors than blocked practice; however, the reverse was true for retention trials. There was no significant effect of type of mental practice in either the acquisition or retention phase. Sex was significantly related to performance for the retention trials only, where the 15 men made smaller errors than the 15 women.