Bidirectional Resource Training of Simple and Complex Tasks

Abstract

Transfer of trained skill was investigated from the viewpoint of mental resources. Participants alternated between a simple training task and a complex task, the video game Everyday Shooter. The training tasks, occlusions and visual words (Boles, 1991, 1992, 1996), shared many critical resources, or few resources, respectively, with the video game. Also, participants received standard task-specific instructions or standard instructions along with additional metacognitive instructions on similarities between the training task and video game. Bidirectional transfer was noted for those training the occlusions task and receiving standard instructions, demonstrating the value of resource training with an alternating design, even when the target task is a complex one.