Complex cognitive skill retention: The roles of general mental ability and refresher interventions in a simulated vocational setting

Abstract

AbstractIn organizations, the assessment of mental abilities is a common way to predict learning success. This paper analyses the effect of general mental ability on skill retention and examines the relationship between refresher interventions and general mental ability in terms of skill retention. Two hundred sixty‐six adult participants were trained to perform a complex cognitive skill in a simulated chemical processing plant (Week 1). After 1 week, 158 participants received intermediate computer‐assisted refresher intervention training in which the skill was applied (Week 2; 108 received no intervention). Finally, participants had to recall (perform) the learned skill after 2 weeks (Week 3). Results show that general mental ability alone affects skill retention with small effect sizes and that refresher interventions affect skill retention positively for low and high general mental ability levels. The findings suggest that persons with low and high general mental abilities benefit equally from refresher interventions in order to maintain complex cognitive skills.