Practice Effects on Skill Acquisition,Learning Outcome,Retention,and Sensitivity to Relearning

Abstract

This paper presents the results from two experiments that examined practice effects on skill acquisition, learning outcome, retention, and sensitivity to relearning. In Experiment 1, our learning criterion task was an intelligent tutoring system teaching flight engineering knowledge and skills. The system was divided into two main curriculum sections, with two practice conditions per section: abbreviated and extended. Thus there were a total of four practice conditions differing only in the number of practice problems requiring solution across problem sets. Experiment 1 showed that subjects in the more abbreviated conditions completed the curriculum significantly faster than did subjects in more extended conditions, but at the expense of greater errors and latencies during problem solution within the tutor. Despite these acquisition differences, groups performed the same across all learning outcome measures. Experiment 2 examined the effects of practice condition on retention and sensitivity to relearning after two years. Although the sample size was fairly small (34 returning subjects), we found evidence for practice effects on long-term retention but not in the predicted direction. In terms of our sensitivity to relearning measure, the groups did not differ. Implications of these findings for optimizing training are discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ackerman, P. L. (1988). Determinants of individual differences during skill acquisition: Cognitive abilities and information processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117, 288–318.

Adams, J. A. (1980). Learning and memory: An introduction (Rev. ed.). Homewood, IL: Dorsey.

Anderson, J. R. (1983). The architecture of cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Anderson, J. R. (1987). Skill acquisition: Compilation of weak-method problem solutions. Psychological Review, 94, 192–210.

Anderson, J. R. (1993). Problem solving and learning. American Psychologist, 48, 35–44.

Bryan, W. L. , and Harter, N. (1899). Studies on the telegraphic language: The acquisition of a hierarchy of habits. Psychological Review, 6, 345–375.

Carlson, R. A. , and Yaure, R. G. (1990). Practice schedules and the use of component skills in problem solving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16, 484–496.

Ciccone, D. S. , and Brelsford, J. W. (1974). Interpresentation lag and rehearsal mode in recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 103, 900–906.

Cook, T. D. , Campbell, D. T. , and Peracchio, L. (1990). Quasi-experimentation. In M. D. Dunnette and L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology: Vol. 1 (pp. 491–576). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists.

10.

Crowder, R. G. (1976). Principles of learning and memory. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

11.

Ebbinghaus, H. E. (1964). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. New York: Dover. (Original work published 1885)

12.

Fisk, A. D. , and Rogers, W. A. (1992). The application of consistency principles for the assessment of skill development. In J. W. Regian and V. J. Shute (Eds.), Cognitive approaches to automated instruction (171–194). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

13.

Gick, M. L. , and Holyoak, K. J. (1987). The cognitive basis of knowledge transfer. In S. M. Cormier and J. D. Hagman (Eds.), Transfer of learning (pp. 9–46). New York: Academic.

14.

Glenberg, A. M. (1979). Component-levels theory of the effects of spacing of repetitions on recall and recognition. Memory & Cognition, 7, 95–112.

15.

Greene, R. L. (1989). Spacing effects in memory: Evidence for a two-process account. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 371–377.

16.

Hintzman, D. L. (1974). Theoretical implications of the spacing effect. In R. L. Solso (Ed.), Theories in cognitive psychology: The Loyola symposium (pp. 77–99). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

17.

Lesgold, A., Bunzo, M. S., McGinnis, T., and Eastman, R. (1989). Windy, the flight engineering tutor. Unpublished computer software program, University of Pittsburgh, Learning Research and Development Center.

18.

Proctor, R. W. (1980). The influence of intervening tasks on the spacing effect for frequency judgments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 6, 254–266.

19.

Rundus, D. (1971). Analysis of rehearsal processes in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 89, 63–77.

20.

Schmidt, R. A. , and Bjork, R. A. (1992). New conceptualizations of practice: Common principles in three paradigms suggest new concepts for training. Psychological Science, 3, 207–217.

21.

Shea, J. B. , and Morgan, R. L. (1979). Contextual interference effects on the acquisition, retention, and transfer of a motor skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 5, 179–187.

22.

Shute, V. J. (1993). A macroadaptive approach to tutoring. Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 4, 61–93.

23.

Shute, V. J. , and Gluck, K. A. (1994). Stat Lady: Descriptive Statistics Module (Unpublished computer program). Brooks Air Force Base, TX: Armstrong Laboratory.

24.

Shute, V. J. , and Walker, R. (1992). Flight Engineering Refresher Course (Unpublished computer program). Brooks Air Force Base, TX: Armstrong Laboratory.

25.

Singley, M. K. , and Anderson, J. R. (1989). The transfer of cognitive skill. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

26.

Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12, 257–285.

27.

Watkins, M. J. (1990). Mediationism and the obfuscation of memory. American Psychologist, 45, 328–335.

28.

Wickelgren, W. A. (1976). Network strength theory of storage and retrieval dynamics. Psychological Review, 83, 466–478.

29.

Woltz, D. J. (1988). An investigation of the role of working memory in procedural skill acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117, 319–331.

30.

Woltz, D. J. , and Shute, V. J. (1995). Time course of forgetting exhibited in repetition priming of semantic comparisons. American Journal of Psychology, 108, 499–525.