A Comparison of Covert and Videotape Modeling Strategies for Training Complex Mechanical Assembly Tasks

Abstract

Experimentation was conducted comparing videotape self-modeling and videotape peer/other modeling to self-directed mental rehearsal (a covert modeling procedure) and a no-training (physical practice) control condition in training a mechanical device assembly task. Eighty male and female college students were introduced to the assembly task in a timed pretest trial and then videotaped performing the assembly task in a second trial. Over the next 4 days, subjects were randomly assigned to training conditions and repeatedly trained and tested in the mechanical device assembly task. The effects of training methods upon assembly times, selfefficacy expectations regarding assembly task performance, and subjective impressions of the nature and usefulness of training were examined. Superior assembly performance over initial training and at 4 months posttraining follow-up was observed for the self-directed mental rehearsal training condition and discussed.

Manual Material Handling Training: The Effect of Self-Observation, Hetero-Observational and Intrinsic Feedback on Workers’ Knowledge and Behaviour

“…In fact, when workers were observing themselves, they were astonished because they figured that they adopted recommended positions. It does not mean that they reacted negatively when they watched themselves, something that happened in the study of Linnerooth et al [49], who associated the negative reactions of workers with non-self-observation effects. This is an issue that has to be considered because not everyone likes watching their own behaviour.…”