THE TRAINING OF KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURES FOR MANUFACTURING TASKS - AN EMPIRICAL-STUDY

Knowledge structure refers to the manner in which a human organizes kn owledge with a given domain. Research has identified knowledge structu re as a determinant of the human ability to perform cognitive-oriented tasks. Yet uncertainty still exists about how to improve an individua l's cognitive task performance through the controlled utilization of t he individual's knowledge structure. The purpose of this study is to i nvestigate whether the development of individual's knowledge structure in a particular domain can be manipulated through training. The exper iment utilized the manufacturing domain of plastic extrusion machine o peration. Sixteen subjects, having no previous knowledge of the domain , were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups. Each of th e experimental groups corresponded to a distinct training condition. O ver a three-day period, both training groups received the same instruc tional content; however, the sequence in which the training material w as presented differed. One group initially received the abstract, conc eptual relationships between domain concepts, followed by more detaile d relationships associated with the lower level aspects of the domain. The other group received the training material in the reverse order; i.e. the lower level information followed by the abstract. Prior to an d concluding the training sessions, each individual's knowledge struct ure was assessed along two dimensions, hierarchical levels and multipl e relations, through a computer-based measurement technique entitled K SAT. The group which received the abstract relationships first showed significant improvement following training along both dimensions of kn owledge structure. No significant changes in the knowledge structure d imensions were found for the group which received the lower level rela tionships first. This study suggests that an individual's knowledge st ructure can be manipulated through training, with a significant effect being attributed to the training sequence of abstract material follow ed by the more detailed material.