Two Explanations of Temporal Changes in Ability-Skill Relationships: A Literature Review and Theoretical Analysis

Abstract

Two models which explain both temporal changes in behavior during training and temporal decreases in correlations between ability measures and performance measures are presented. It is argued that both phenomena are dependent on the same process and that each of the models presented adequately accounts for the experimental data. The changing task model originally proposed by Woodrow and later elaborated by Fleishman assumes that the abilities which contribute to task performance change systematically over time. A second model, the changing subject model, assumes that practice on the criterion task systematically and significantly affects the ability levels of the subjects. A discussion of the changed conception of the ability-skill distribution necessitated by the second model is presented. The psychological and organizational implications of the two models are discussed, and the well nigh impossibility of an empirical evaluation is pointed out.