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Knowledge structures and the acquisition of a complex skill.

E A Day1, W Arthur, D Gettman

  • 1Department of Psychology, Valparaiso University, USA. eday@psychology.psy.ou.edu

The Journal of Applied Psychology
|October 13, 2001
PubMed
Summary
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This study shows that aligning trainees' knowledge structures with expert models improves skill acquisition, retention, and transfer in complex tasks. This highlights the importance of knowledge structure in learning and performance.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Educational Technology
  • Human Performance

Background:

  • Understanding how individuals acquire complex skills is crucial for effective training.
  • Knowledge structures, representing organized information, are theorized to play a key role in learning and performance.
  • Previous research has explored knowledge structures, but their direct link to skill acquisition and transfer in high-skill domains requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effectiveness of knowledge structures as a measure of learning complex skills.
  • To determine if the similarity of a trainee's knowledge structure to an expert's predicts skill acquisition, retention, and transfer.
  • To explore the mediating role of knowledge structures in the relationship between cognitive ability and skill performance.

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Main Methods:

  • Eighty-six male participants underwent a 3-day training program on a complex video game.
  • Knowledge structures were assessed post-training, followed by a 4-day non-practice interval.
  • Skill retention and transfer were tested after the interval, with analyses examining the correlation between knowledge structures and performance outcomes.

Main Results:

  • A significant correlation was found between the similarity of trainees' knowledge structures to an expert model and their skill acquisition.
  • Trainee knowledge structure similarity also predicted skill retention and skill transfer.
  • The impact of knowledge structure similarity on performance was influenced by the method used to define the expert referent structure.
  • Knowledge structures were found to mediate the relationship between general cognitive ability and skill-based performance.

Conclusions:

  • Knowledge structures are a viable operationalization of learning in high-skill domains.
  • Aligning trainee knowledge structures with expert models is critical for effective skill acquisition, retention, and transfer.
  • Cognitive ability influences skill performance through the development of appropriate knowledge structures.