Attention Theory as a Guide to Part-Training for Instruction of Naval Air-Intercept Control

Abstract

Air-intercept control is a complex Navy combat task which requires a radar operator to advise a pilot of optimum headings for avoiding, meeting, or intercepting other aircraft. The goal of the research reported here was to explore procedures for teaching some critical elements of air-intercept control with a pc-based version of the training simulation that is normally used for instruction. Principles derived from attention theory, and in particular Multiple Resource Theory (Wickens, 1984), were used to guide the development of two part-training strategies. In one strategy, specific skill-based elements of the task were taught in isolation and were then recombined into the whole task. In another strategy, an abstract procedural task was added by isolating those features that contributed to the spatial and temporal coherence of the whole task. A transfer of training design was used to test these two part-training conditions. The procedural-based version of the task emerged as a training strategy that could help students develop resistance to potentially disruptive effects of making the task more difficult. The results are viewed as supporting an approach to training that attempts to alleviate resource overload so that learning may proceed with maximum efficiency while, at the same time, allowing critical task elements related to time-sharing skills to be practiced.