Ml. Sanchez-ku et W. Arthur, A dyadic protocol for training complex skills: A replication using female participants, HUMAN FACT, 42(3), 2000, pp. 512-520
The effectiveness and efficiency of the active interlocked modeling (AIM) d
yadic protocol in training complex skills has been extensively demonstrated
. However, past evaluation studies have all used male participants exclusiv
ely Consequently, the present study investigated the generalizability of th
e effectiveness and efficiency gains to women. We randomly assigned 108 fem
ale participants to either the AIM-dyad condition or a standard individual
control training condition. The results supported the robustness and viabil
ity of the AIM protocol. Although their overall performance was lower than
that obtained for men in previous studies, women trained in the AIM-dyad co
ndition performed as well as those trained in the individual condition. Thu
s, the efficiency gains associated with the AIM-dyad protocol, which result
from the ability to train two people simultaneously to leach the same perf
ormance level as a single person with no increase in training time or machi
ne cost, are generalizable to female participants. The applied and basic re
search implications of the present study are discussed within the context o
f well-documented male/female differences in the performance of complex psy
chomotor tasks. For instance, given the number of women entering the workfo
rce and the significant proportion of women in professions previously deeme
d to be male-dominated (e.g., air navigation), it is reassuring to know tha
t sex differences in task performance do not necessarily imply sex differen
ces in the effectiveness of training protocols.