John A. Allen

Maintenance training simulator fidelity and individual differences in transfer of training

This study was undertaken to investigate the relationship between simulator fidelity and training effectiveness. Two aspects of simulator fidelity were manipulated, namely, the degree to which a training simulator “looked like” actual equipment (physical fidelity), and the extent to which it “acted like” real equipment (functional fidelity). A transfer of training design was used to assess learning. Performance on an electromechanical troubleshooting task was correlated with a number of individual difference variables. Results indicated that physical and functional fidelity were interdependent and that temporal measures were most sensitive to fidelity manipulations. Low functional fidelity was associated with longer problem solution and inter-response times. Persons with high analytic abilities took longer to solve problems, but required fewer troubleshooting tests and made fewer incorrect solutions.

Effects of instructional strategy and motion presentation conditions on the acquisition and transfer of electromechanical troubleshooting skill

Three instructional strategy conditions and the presence or absence of visually presented motion during instruction were manipulated, and their effects on the acquisition and transfer of electromechanical troubleshooting performance were investigated. In this study use of visually presented motion during training (as opposed to static display presentation) was not found to enhance either maintenance performance or transfer on troubleshooting tasks. However, results indicated that subjects trained via a procedure-based training strategy performed more accurately, but slower, than did subjects whose training consisted of conceptual information concerning system structure and function for a reference performance task. When a transfer task was used as the criterion measure, results indicated that training that included conceptual information concerning a systems structure and/or function improved performance. Results thus suggested that some level of generic structure and functional knowledge is required for cross-domain transfer on cognitive troubleshooting tasks, and that this information should include both general procedures for troubleshooting and declarative information on the structure and function of the systems of interest.

Effects of instructional delivery systems and training parameter manipulations on electromechanical maintenance performance

A need was identified for data concerned with maximum possible and maximum comfortable angular displacement of the thumb. These measures, along with thumb reach data, were collected from a sample of 105 subjects. It was found that thumb reach was not correlated with either maximum or most comfortable degree of angular displacement. In addition, angular displacement was not correlated with age. Design guidelines for angular displacement of the thumb are provided.A research program is presented in which computer assisted instructional (CAI) based delivery systems were compared with other training media to determine the extent to which instruction delivered via these methods affects performance on electromechanical maintenance tasks. Summaries of two preliminary studies are presented and a third study is discussed in greater detail. In the latter study opportunity for hands-on practice, access to job aids, and instructional delivery system parameters were manipulated. Performance was measured immediately following training and again after a one-week interval. Both handson practice of the maintenance activity and access to job aids during training were found to significantly improve maintenance performance. However, no differences in performance of procedural maintenance tasks were found among students who were trained using CAI-based as opposed to other lower technology-based instructional delivery systems.

Effects of Experience and Short-Term Practice on Drivers' Eye Movements and Errors in Simulated Dangerous Situations:

Two groups of 10 subjects tracked a segment of the Aetna training film, Traffic Strategy, six times by manipulating the controls of an Aetna Drivo-Trainer station. One group was composed of licensed drivers, the other, nonlicensed. No significant differences were found with respect to: (1) use of the accelerator, (2) frequency of eye movements, (3) length of eye movements, (4) fixation errors, (5) driving errors, or (6) the relationship of control actions to driving errors. Differences were noted with respect to: (1) steering and braking, (2) the effects of practice on control actions and driving errors, and (3) the relationship of amplitude of eye movement to control actions and driving errors. The results are discussed in terms of possible differences in search strategy between experienced and inexperienced drivers.

Instruction effects on size and distance judgments

The hypotheses that size judgments of unfamiliar objects are affected by distance information, and distance judgments by size information, were tested. Subjects made size or distance estimates in a cue-reduced situation, with or without distance or size information, and also made calibrated estimates in full-cue conditions. Size judgments in the no-information condition were correlated with the retinal image, whereas distance information produced size estimates closer to the actual size of the objects. Subjects given no information about size produced distance estimates that were randomly distributed, whereas size information yielded a weak effect in the appropriate direction. Implications for the size-distance invariance hypothesis and the specific distance tendency are discussed.

Motion as an Instructional Feature in Maintenance Training

This paper draws upon both an extensive review of the literature, and a series of experiments manipulating motion-based (videotaped) versus static (35-mm slide) presentations of instructional material across a variety of instructional conditions. Performance measures in the experiments included both hands-on tasks and conceptual knowledge tests. Results indicated that electromechanical maintenance performance did not differ significantly between statically and dynamically trained groups across a variety of types and complexities of electromechanical maintenance tasks and instructional strategy conditions.

Simulator Fidelity in Electro-Mechanical Maintenance Training

A program of research aimed at investigating the degree of functional and physical fidelity needed in maintenance training simulators is described. A unique aspect of this work is the use of a generic reference system to serve as both an actual equipment trainer and system for simulation. This system as well as five training simulators differing in their functional and physical resemblance to the reference system are described. Program plans, objectives, and preliminary observations are discussed.

Effect of distance instructions on size judgments.

The proposition that in a reduced-cue setting subjects could use cognitive information about an objects distance to make accurate judgments of its size was tested. An improved paradigm was used to determine the effects of distance instructions per se. This paradigm also allowed independent tests of the effectiveness of cue reduction. The data indicated that cue reduction was successful and that the specific distance tendency governed size judgments when there were no distance instructions. When distance instructions were given, they produced size judgments in precisely the ratio predicted by the size-distance invariance hypothesis. However, there was a large constant error, which reflects a tendency of college students to overestimate the amount of distance signified by a verbal instruction. Hence, cognitive information in the form of verbal distance instructions has precise effects on size judgments, but the latter are not veridical, even in the absence of anchor effects from the specific distance tendency and residual perceptual cues.