Serial Presentation of Computer Graphics: Training Effects and Strategy Development for Analytic and Holistic Cognitive Styles

Abstract

Job tasks, such as quality control, require workers to perform visual discriminations, comparing a test stimulus to a standard. In some cases, both stimuli are present and can be compared in parallel. In most cases, however, the standard stimulus is absent and workers must rely on their memory of the standard stimulus in order to make an accurate discrimination. Pratt and Sohn (2001) found that when visual discriminations are made in parallel, training content and individual differences affect strategy development and transfer performance. The present research attempts to compliment and extend Pratt and Sohn's (2001) findings by examining the role of display design and its affects on training effectiveness and strategy development. Participants were given a visual discrimination task identical to Pratt and Sohn's methodology, except stimulus sets were presented serially rather than in parallel. After training with either highly similar or highly dissimilar stimuli, participants transferred to novel stimuli of medium similarity level. Preliminary findings indicate that manipulating display design does not impact training results. Just as Pratt and Sohn discovered, training content does not influence transfer performance for individuals with an analytic cognitive style, but hard training is necessary for individuals with a holistic cognitive style to perform as well as the analytic group. Graphical design and individual differences in cognitive style are discussed.