Cognitive Science Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Top Cogn Sci. 2020 Jul;12(3):975-991. doi: 10.1111/tops.12512. Epub 2020 Jul 14.
Averaging performance over a group of individuals implicitly assumes that there is only one set of methods for accomplishing the task and that all learners acquire those methods in the same sequence. We maintain that the average subject is a mythical beast and, rather than profiling a mythical beast, we ask "how do different people each learn the same complex task?" To answer our question, we use SpotLight-a tool for analyzing changes in individual performance as skill is acquired. Specifically, in this report, we use the SpotLight on 40 scores and measures of performance (some collected at millisecond level, others collected once per game), to investigate the skill acquisition of nine individuals each of whom devoted 31 h to becoming skilled players of the classic cognitive psychology game of Space Fortress (Mané & Donchin, 1989). Turning the SpotLight on our best and worst players reveals patterns of performance plateaus, dips, and leaps. Examining these patterns reveals differences as well as commonalities in the evolution of methods discovered and used by each individual across 31 hours of skill acquisition.
对一组个体的表现进行平均处理隐含地假设完成任务只有一套方法，并且所有学习者都以相同的顺序习得这些方法。我们认为，平均主体是一种虚构的野兽，与其描述一种虚构的野兽，我们不如问“不同的人如何各自学习相同的复杂任务？”为了回答我们的问题，我们使用了 SpotLight——一种用于分析个体表现变化的工具，因为技能是习得的。具体来说，在本报告中，我们使用 SpotLight 分析了 40 项得分和表现指标（有些是在毫秒级收集的，有些是每轮游戏收集一次），以研究九名个体的技能习得情况，他们每个人都花了 31 个小时成为经典认知心理学游戏“太空堡垒”（Mané & Donchin, 1989）的熟练玩家。将 SpotLight 转向我们表现最好和最差的玩家，可以揭示表现的平台期、下降和飞跃模式。检查这些模式揭示了每个个体在 31 小时的技能习得过程中发现和使用的方法的演变中存在的差异和共性。
