Individual differences and workload effects on strategy adoption in a dynamic task.

The current study investigated the effects of individual differences and workload on strategy adaptivity in a complex, dynamic task called the Space Fortress game (Donchin, 1989). Participants learned to use a strategy of flying a ship in circles around the fortress in a standard game environment. Once they mastered the strategy, they were assigned to different workload conditions and transferred to a nonstandard environment in which a strong wind was introduced that made it more difficult to achieve a circular orbit. About half of the participants continued with their prior circular strategy while the rest adopted a novel strategy that achieved comparable performance with less effort. With this novel strategy, rather than trying to complete orbits they flew into the wind and then allowed the wind to blow them back to achieve a pendulum-like path. Participants without a working-memory load were more likely to adopt the new strategy. Participants were also more likely to adopt the new strategy if their pattern of behavior exposed them more often to the potential of drifting with the wind. The results indicate that spontaneous changes in strategy occur when people are exposed to the potential of a new strategy and have the cognitive resources to understand its potential.

[1]  D. J. Gilmore,et al.  Individual differences and strategy selection in reasoning , 1997 .

[2]  Richard A. Volz,et al.  On the Use of Intelligent Agents as Partners in Training Systems for Complex Tasks1 , 2003 .

[3]  E. Sadler‐Smith,et al.  Cognitive Style and Learning Strategies: Some Implications for Training Design , 1997 .

[4]  B McElree,et al.  Working memory and focal attention. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[5]  D. Gopher,et al.  Transfer of Skill from a Computer Game Trainer to Flight , 1994 .

[6]  Maxwell J. Roberts,et al.  Understanding strategy selection , 2001, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[7]  A. Kramer,et al.  Videogame training strategy-induced change in brain function during a complex visuomotor task , 2012, Behavioural Brain Research.

[8]  R. Siegler,et al.  Strategy choice procedures and the development of multiplication skill. , 1988, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[9]  M A Just,et al.  From the SelectedWorks of Marcel Adam Just 1990 What one intelligence test measures : A theoretical account of the processing in the Raven Progressive Matrices Test , 2016 .

[10]  Wai-Tat Fu,et al.  Resolving the paradox of the active user: stable suboptimal performance in interactive tasks , 2004, Cogn. Sci..

[11]  John Hayes,et al.  Matching Learning Style and Instructional Strategy: An Application of the Person-Environment Interaction Paradigm , 1993 .

[12]  Min Liu,et al.  The relationship between the learning strategies and learning styles in a hypermedia environment , 1994 .

[13]  D. Kahneman,et al.  Attention and Effort , 1973 .

[14]  L. Reder.  Strategy selection in question answering , 1987, Cognitive Psychology.

[15]  Emanuel Donchin,et al.  The training of complex task performance , 1989 .

[16]  Nicole E. Friend,et al.  Learning Strategies Project , 2015 .

[17]  John R. Anderson,et al.  An ACT-R Model of the Evolution of Strategy Use and Problem Difficulty , 2001 .

[18]  Kathy A. Low,et al.  Transfer of skill engendered by complex task training under conditions of variable priority. , 2010, Acta psychologica.

[19]  Daniel Gopher,et al.  On the Economy of the Human Processing System: A Model of Multiple Capacity. , 1977 .

[20]  Christopher D. Wickens,et al.  Multiple resources and performance prediction , 2002 .

[21]  R. Kail,et al.  Longitudinal Evidence That Increases in Processing Speed and Working Memory Enhance Children's Reasoning , 2007, Psychological science.

[22]  Lee R. BROOKSf.  SPATIAL AND VERBAL COMPONENTS OF THE ACT OF RECALL * , 2005 .

[23]  Christopher D. Wickens,et al.  The Effects of task Difficulty and Workload on Training , 1986 .

[24]  M. Just,et al.  From the SelectedWorks of Marcel Adam Just 1992 A capacity theory of comprehension : Individual differences in working memory , 2017 .

[25]  E. Donchin.  The learning strategies project: Introductory remarks☆ , 1989 .

[26]  John R. Anderson,et al.  History of Success and Current Context in Problem Solving Combined Influences on Operator Selection , 1996, Cognitive Psychology.

[27]  Christian D. Schunn,et al.  Strategy Adaptivity and Individual Differences , 2002 .

[28]  Charles H Morris,et al.  Pilot mental workload: how well do pilots really perform? , 2006, Ergonomics.

[29]  N. Kogan.  Cognitive styles and reading performance , 1980 .

[30]  L. Reder,et al.  Bringing Together the Psychometric and Strategy Worlds: Predicting Adaptivity in a Dynamic Task , 1999 .

[31]  M. Manosevitz.  High-Speed Scanning in Human Memory , .

[32]  L M Reder,et al.  Awareness and working memory in strategy adaptivity , 2001, Memory & cognition.

[33]  Christian D. Schunn,et al.  Strategy Adaptiyity and Individual Differences , 1998 .

[34]  Marci S. DeCaro,et al.  From poor performance to success under stress: working memory, strategy selection, and mathematical problem solving under pressure. , 2007, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[35]  Barbara Y. White,et al.  An approach to training based upon principled task decomposition , 1989 .

[36]  Bonnie E. John,et al.  Strategy use while learning to perform the Kanfer-Ackerman Air Traffic Controller c 1 task , 1997 .

[37]  John R. Anderson,et al.  The strategic nature of changing your mind , 2009, Cognitive Psychology.

[38]  S. Hale,et al.  Processing Speed, Working Memory, and Fluid Intelligence: Evidence for a Developmental Cascade , 1996 .

[39]  John R. Anderson,et al.  Components of Dynamic Skill Acquisition , 2008 .

[40]  D. Simons,et al.  Striatal volume predicts level of video game skill acquisition. , 2010, Cerebral cortex.

[41]  Cleotilde Gonzalez,et al.  Task Workload and Cognitive Abilities in Dynamic Decision Making , 2005, Hum. Factors.

[42]  T. C. Lorsbach,et al.  Developmental Differences in Cognitive Control: Goal Representation and Maintenance During a Continuous Performance Task , 2010 .

[43]  Marc Destefano,et al.  The mechanics of multitasking: the choreography of perception, action, and cognition over 7.05 orders of magnitude , 2010 .

[44]  F. Paas,et al.  Cognitive Architecture and Instructional Design , 1998 .

[45]  Emanuel Donchin,et al.  Adaptive and part-whole training in the acquisition of a complex perceptual-motor skill , 1989 .

[46]  Erik D. Reichle,et al.  The Neural Bases of Strategy and Skill in Sentence–Picture Verification , 2000, Cognitive Psychology.

[47]  Christopher W. Allinson,et al.  The Implications of Learning Styles for Training and Development: A Discussion of the Matching Hypothesis , 1996 .

[48]  Earl Hunt,et al.  Individual Differences in the Verification of Sentence-Picture Relationships , 1978 .

[49]  Christian D. Schunn,et al.  Modeling adaptivity in a dynamic task , 1998 .

[50]  Karl M. Newell,et al.  Whole-part training strategies for learning the response dynamics of microprocessor driven simulators☆ , 1989 .

[51]  John Sweller,et al.  Cognitive Load During Problem Solving: Effects on Learning , 1988, Cogn. Sci..

[52]  Peter J. Smith,et al.  Strategies for accommodating individuals' styles and preferences in flexible learning programmes , 2004, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[53]  Marsha C. Lovett,et al.  Task representations, strategy variability, and base-rate neglect , 1999 .