Training on Perceptual-Motor Tasks Using Simulated Construction Equipment

Abstract

A prior study addressed whether practicing on both an excavator and a loader result in poorer learning of excavator operation than practicing solely on the excavator. Performance of a controls familiarization task, requiring selection of a control action in response to a stimulus, showed no cost or benefit from inserting practice on a simulated loader between learning sessions on a simulated excavator. The present study sought to verify whether alternating between the excavator and loader yields a similar outcome for a more complex truck-loading task with multiple subgoals and requiring perceptual-motor coordination. The number of sessions was increased to examine the possible interference when participants continued alternating between the machines. The group whose excavator operating practice was interrupted by practice on the loader continued to show improvement on the excavator, with performance picking up where it had left off. These results imply that operators can train on two machines concurrently without disrupting learning.