[Learning from Mistakes? - A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Acquisition of Knowledge about Clinical Communication...

This study compares two types of therapeutic model videos: an ideal model and a model that shows mistakes. The idea is that the conscious perception of mistakes is more likely to help build a comprehensive understanding of clinical communication skills than an ideal model.

A total of n1=111 psychology students and n2=57 people from the general population were randomly assigned to one of two training conditions as part of an online study. While one group watched a short but competent conversation of a behavioral therapist in their training with a positive model video, the other group watched a mixed model video in their training that showed a therapist with mediocre competence. In both training videos, the positive or negative behavior was marked with written explanations. Before and after the training, the participants rated the competencies of a therapist in another interview situation using standardized scales. These competence ratings were compared with those of two clinical experts and thus provided an indicator of the participants' conceptual knowledge of competent interviewing.

A series of ANCOVA models showed that the group that saw the mixed model video deviated significantly less from the experts after training than the group that saw the positive model video (ηp2=0.03-0.10). However, the group that watched the positive (vs. mixed) model video deviated more strongly from the expert judgments on two of three competence scales after the training than before (dPre-Post=0.78-0.82).

Overall, the hypothesis that mixed models are advantageous was confirmed. The unexpected results in the group with the positive model video could be explained by the fact that they set an unrealistically high anchor to which the later behavior is compared.

Mixed models may offer some advantage over positive models in imparting knowledge about professional communication, especially when the model videos contain behaviorally relevant explanations.