Validation of a motor skills performance theory with applications for dental education.

While several investigations assessing applications of contemporary motor learning theory to preclinic laboratory instruction have been successful, they provide only indirect and incomplete validation of theoretical constructs. This study's purpose was to further evaluate the validity of salient constructs through the use of a validation technique called verbal self-reporting, and to describe applications for dental education. Subjects were videotaped completing a preparation. Later, the tape was replayed and a structured interview used to stimulate recall of mental processes that occurred during the preparation. Transcribed self-reports were classified by two calibrated raters into categories corresponding to the constructs of interest. Results confirm many of the constructs' characteristics. Subjects reported that they a) defined the desired outcome in detail before beginning production; b) defined performance strategies that would be useful for different aspects of the preparation; c) constantly generated knowledge of results during the course of production in order to directly assess the adequacy of the product; and d) generated knowledge of performance as an indirect assessment of product acceptability especially when visual access was impeded. These results support previous applications of the theory to dentistry and have important implications for the improvement of instruction in preclinic laboratory courses.