Relative Contribution of Training and Interface Design to Mental Model Assimilation

The purpose of the study was to determine the relative efficacy of training (advance organizers) and interface design in the formation of a mental model of a menu-oriented data base management system. The study employed a 2 × 5 factorial between-subjects design with two levels of Menu Interface (Data vs. Task) and 5 levels of Advance Organizers (None, Functional Job Description, Spatial Menu Map, Data Menu Map, Task Menu Map). Subjects engaged in a series of tasks which simulated the operation of a video store. Results indicated that the task-oriented menu interface resulted in less task completion time, fewer errors, and greater lexical model assimilation than did the data-oriented menu interface. There were no significant differences in these same measures as a function of advance organizer condition (training). This suggests that the actual interface itself may have more to do with the formation of a mental model and that some interface designs lead to better assimilation of the system model than do others. The failure to obtain an effect of advance organizers was attributed to lack of use of the training material, task and interface simplicity, and subject familiarity with the task domain.