A Theory for Predicting Ability/Skill Relations: An Approach from Automatic and Controlled Processing

Abstract

The basic phenomena from studies relating Individual differences in cognitive and perceptual-motor abilities to skill development are investigated. A general theory is provided for predicting patterns of correlations between ability measures and performance scores during training. The theory is based on two major perspectives, Automatic and Controlled Processing types and modern hierarchical theories of cognitive abilities. Additional attention is devoted to Performance-Resource characteristics, task difficulty and task content. A short review of supporting data is also provided.