The study tested whether group discussion facilitates acquisition of Space Fortress (SF), a complex skills task, and if so, what aspects of discussion are responsible for the effect. The experimental group participants who engaged in unguided group discussion about SF performed the task significantly better than did controls. Factor analysis of task-related discussion yielded three general discussion orientations: advice, social comparison, and motivation. The latter two orientations interacted to predict the final performance: Social comparison contributed to performance at the low and average but not at the high levels of the motivation factor. An additional analysis of the advice or information exchange orientation yielded two dimensions recognized as strategy and cognitive overload. They also interacted to predict the final performance: Discussion of strategy was beneficial to performance, but only at the low level of cognitive overload. Implications for the organization of training protocols are discussed.
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Wayne L. Shebilske received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1974. He is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Texas A&M University.
