Error Training and Adaptive Remediation

An experiment investigated the relative effectiveness of three training strategies for improving transfer performance in a cognitively complex decision-making task. Error Management is an exploratory training approach in which trainees learn by exploring and making errors. Error Prevention training includes structured training on likely errors. Adaptive Remediation is error management training supplemented with practice scenarios tailored to the types of errors made. The study is an important addition to the literature because it examines training and transfer performance in a cognitively complex militarily-relevant task. Participants used a digital system to plan, execute, and monitor unmanned vehicles in reconnaissance missions. Transfer scenarios tested the ability to adapt what was learned when attempting new tasks and in an error prone environment. The results showed that transfer performance was better when participants did not complete adaptive remediation scenarios. It is believed that the adaptive remediation tasks encouraged participants to focus on single tasks and as a result they spent less time exploring the whole task. The implication is that the cost and effort required to create an adaptive remediation training program may not be justified in a cognitively complex task like the planning task used in the experiment.