Learner-controlled practice difficulty in the training of a complex task: cognitive and motivational mechanisms

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Technology
• Human Performance

Background:

• Learner-controlled instruction allows individuals to adjust training difficulty.
• Limited research exists on how learner-controlled difficulty impacts learning outcomes.
• The concept of desirable difficulties suggests that optimal challenge enhances learning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the cognitive and motivational factors influencing learner-controlled practice difficulty.
• To examine the relationship between practice difficulty and learning outcomes in a complex task.
• To explore the mediating role of knowledge and performance in adaptive performance.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 112 young adult males learning a complex videogame.
• Participants controlled their practice difficulty, reflected in task complexity.
• Measures included general mental ability, prior experience, self-efficacy, error encouragement, task knowledge, and performance.

Main Results:

• General mental ability, prior experience, self-efficacy, and error encouragement predicted higher practice difficulty.
• Practice difficulty directly correlated with task knowledge and post-training performance.
• Task knowledge and post-training performance mediated the effect of practice difficulty on adaptive performance.

Conclusions:

• Training difficulty, when operationalized as task complexity, positively influences knowledge and performance.
• Learner control over practice difficulty can be leveraged to improve instructional practices.
• Further research is needed on optimizing task complexity and other difficulty forms in self-paced learning.