A dyadic protocol for training complex skills: a replication using female participants

Abstract

The effectiveness and efficiency of the active interlocked modeling (AIM) dyadic protocol in training complex skills has been extensively demonstrated (e.g., Arthur, Day, Bennett, McNelly, & Jordan, 1997., Shebilske, Regian, Arthur, & Jordan, 1992). However, these studies have all used male participants exclusively. Consequently, the present study investigated the generalizability of the effectiveness and efficiency gains of the AIM dyadic protocol over an individual training protocol to female participants. One hundred and eight female participants were randomly assigned to either the AIM-dyad condition or a standard individual control training condition. The results supported the robustness and viability of the AIM protocol. Although their overall performance was lower than that obtained for males in previous studies, females trained in the AIM condition performed as well as those trained in the individual condition. Thus, the efficiency gains associated with the AIM-dyad protocol, which result from the ability to train, simultaneously, two people to reach the same performance level as a single person with no increase in training time or machine cost, are generalizable to female participants. The applied and basic research implications of the present study are discussed within the context of well documented male/female differences in the performance of complex psychomotor asks.