TASK COHERENCE, TRAINING TIME, AND RETENTION INTERVAL EFFECTS ON SKILL RETENTION

• Published in: Journal of applied psychology Vol. 52; no. 5; pp. 386 - 393
• Main Authors: NAYLOR, JAMES C, BRIGGS, GEORGE E, REED, WALTER G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Psychological Association 01-10-1968; American Psychological Association, etc
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; Education; Human; Humans; Interstimulus Interval; Intertrial Interval; Memory; Methods; Practice (Psychology); Retention; Stimulus Intervals; Task Analysis; Task Complexity; Time Factors
• ISSN: 0021-9010; 1939-1854
• DOI: 10.1037/h0026239

EVALUATED THE AMOUNT OF TRAINING, SECONDARY TASK COHERENCE, AND LENGTH OF RETENTION INTERVAL, EACH AT 2 LEVELS, IN TERMS OF LONG-TERM SKILL RETENTION EFFECTS. THE CRITERION TASK WAS COMPOSED OF A 3-DIMENSIONAL TRACKING TASK (PRIMARY TASK) AND A 9-EVENT MONITORING TASK (SECONDARY TASK). RETENTION LOSS VARIED INVERSELY WITH AMOUNT OF TRAINING AND WITH SECONDARY TASK COHERENCE (THE LATTER ONLY UNDER THE LESSER AMOUNT OF TRAINING) FOR BOTH TASKS. ABSOLUTE RETENTION LEVELS VARIED DIRECTLY WITH THE TRAINING AND TASK COHERENCE VARIABLES AND INVERSELY WITH RETENTION INTERVAL. TASK COHERENCE EMERGED AS AN IMPORTANT VARIABLE IN SKILL ACQUISITION AND RETENTION.