This paper focuses on the interactions among four constructs during skill acquisition: (1) the dynamic changes in attentional demands of the task to be acquired, (2) individual differences in cognitive and intellectual abilities, (3) conative (motivational), metacognitive processes involved in changes of attentional focus, and (4) knowledge structures acquired through part-task training. An attentional model is reviewed that describes how these variables interact during three phases of skill acquisition (i.e., during declarative knowledge, knowledge compilation, and at the level of proceduralized knowledge). Empirical demonstration of the framework is provided in the context of complex skill acquisition. Supportive results from a series of empirical studies are reviewed.
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