The evidence for and against a redundancy gain in reaction time (RT) when the target is repeated in the visual display is reviewed. We consider the relevance of redundancy gains under these circumstances to the question of whether attention can be simultaneously directed to separate locations in the visual field. In the present experiments, two capital letters were the target stimuli in a two-alternative forced-choice RT paradigm. In addition to the usual conditions of single-target trials, trials on which the target is repeated in the display, and trials on which the target occurs with a noise letter, we introduced the innovation of a condition in which both targets occur in the display. In our two experiments, RT was fastest with single-target displays and slowest with displays containing a target and a noise letter. There was no significant difference in RT to displays in which the target was repeated and displays in which both targets were presented. Both conditions showed a redundancy gain when compared with displays containing a target and a noise letter. The lack of response competition in the both-targets condition and the overall pattern of the results were well explained by a unitary attentional focus that serially processed the letters in the display. Analyses of minima and maxima RTs were consistent with this interpretation.In the present research, our major purpose was to determine the role of focal attention in the redundant-signals effect as it applies to visual recognition. This effect refers to the gain in recognition accuracy or the decrease in discriminated response latency that sometimes occurs with redundant-target presentations. For example, on a twochoice response time (RT) task, the subject may be required to discriminate between the targets A and B. A redundant-signals effect is obtained if the average RT is shorter when two As or two Bs are presented simultaneously on each trial than when a trial consists of only a single A or B.Although redundancy of signals can be presented across separate sensory modalities or within any modality, in the present paper, we will be concerned only with visual signals. Specifically, we have studied the effect upon recognition latency for targets when they occur once as opposed to twice in the visual field on a trial.The presence or absence of a redundant-signals effect or its magnitude, if present, has important implications about basic characteristics of information processing. Not only is it relevant to issues of serial as opposed to parallel processing of inputs, but it also bears upon questions of whether we can simultaneously divide the focus of attention to separate sensory modalities or to separate locations in the visual field. Mullin, Egeth, and Mordkoff (1988) have suggested that the redundant-signals paradigm

We saved trainer time and resources by reducing hands-on practice in training-team protocols without reducing computer-based learning. During 1-h sessions, young adults learned Space Fortress, a video task that has been employed during pilot training. Observers (Experiment 1) learned more in 3 sessions than did test-only trainees. Individuals, dyads, triads, and tetrads (Experiment 2) learned in 3 sessions with no differences in learning or interaction between learning and protocol. Individuals, dyads, and tetrads (Experiment 3) learned in 10 sessions with no differences in learning or interaction between learning and protocol. As predicted by social learning theory, observational learning seems to compensate for hands-on practice efficiently and effectively. Applications of this research have been developed for computer-based group training of airline and air force pilots.

College students in 2 experiments learned a complex laboratory task, Space Fortress, in a context representative of pilot training. Experiment 1 contrasted massed (« = 23) and distributed (n = 22) intervals between practice lessons. Experiment 2 contrasted 25-min interlesson activities of task-relevant elaboration (n = 20) versus an arithmetic task (n = 20). Both experiments tested acquisition, retention, transfer from joystick to keyboard, and interference from a secondary tapping task. All tests favored the distributed group and the elaboration group. Advantages during acquisition

Researchers conducted 2 experiments that used backward transfer to improve the efficiency of part-task training for a desktop flight simulator. In Experiment 1, a part-task group showed positive transfer but did not perform as well as a whole-task group. Backward-transfer analysis indicated that only a subset of the component tasks was critical to the criterion task. In Experiment 2, a part-task training regime that used the critical component tasks was compared with a whole-task regime and a part-task regime composed of noncritical component tasks. Results indicated that the critical part-task regime was as effective as the whole-task regime, validating the utility of the backward-transfer technique.