Attribute-treatment Interactions Research Articles

The Moderating Effect of Individual Differences in Error-Management Training

We investigated the effectiveness of error-encouragement training and the influence of ability and personality attribute-treatment interactions using a dynamic decision-making task. Error-encouragement training is said to be more effective than error-avoidance training because active exploration and error encouragement promote better learning and transfer. Past research, which is limited by confounded experimental designs involving simple tasks with little consideration of individual differences, provides evidence for the value of active exploration but less so for error encouragement We randomly allocated 164 participants to receive error-encouragement, error-avoidance, or no error-related instructions in training on ATC-lab, a dynamic computer simulated air traffic control task. Active exploration and task information were controlled, and ability and personality were assessed. Error encouragement yielded better transfer performance than did error avoidance but was no better than the control training. Higher- rather than lower-ability trainees benefited from training with an error orientation (positive or negative), suggesting that learning from errors in training requires greater cognitive resources. Trainees higher in openness to experience and agreeableness performed more poorly with error-avoidance training than with error-encouragement and control training. Error-avoidance training had a detrimental effect especially for those less open to experience, lower in agreeableness, and of lower ability. The significant benefits of error-encouragement training reported in previous research were probably attributable to confounding factors, such as active exploration and differential task information. Although errors and active exploration can be useful learning tools in training, trainers should be mindful that focusing on errors, whether positively or negatively, may not suit everyone.

Attribute-Treatment Interactions in Cross-cultural Training: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Expanding upon data of Fan and Wanous’ (2008) longitudinal field experiment, this research investigates attribute-treatment interactions in cross-cultural training. Drawing on the person-environment fit theory, we hypothesized that sojourners with high perceived social self-efficacy (PSSE) should have better fit with a theory-driven cross-cultural coping orientation program, called “Realistic Orientation Program for Entry Stress” (ROPES) than low-PSSE sojourners. As a result, the treatment effects (the ROPES program vs. a traditional cross-cultural training program) should be more positive for high-PSSE sojourners than for low-PSSE sojourners. Seventy-two new graduate students from Asia entering a large U.S. public university were randomly assigned to either a ROPES program or a traditional cross-cultural training program and were assessed pre-entry and multiple times post-entry. The results strongly supported the hypothesized attribute-treatment interactions. Theoretical contributions and practical impli...

The use of brief interventions adapted from motivational interviewing across behavioral domains: a systematic review.

To examine the effectiveness of brief behavioral interventions adapting the principles and techniques of Motivational Interviewing (MI) to four behavioral domains: substance abuse, smoking, HIV risk and diet/exercise. We conducted a systematic review of 29 randomized trials of MI interventions. Data on methodological quality were extracted and tabulated. Between-group behavior change effect sizes and confidence intervals were calculated for each study. Due to varying intervention time lengths, targeted problem behaviors, settings and interventionists' backgrounds and skill levels, outcomes were not combined meta-analytically. Sixty per cent of the 29 studies yielded at least one significant behavior change effect size. No significant association between length of follow-up time and magnitude of effect sizes was found across studies. There was substantial evidence that MI is an effective substance abuse intervention method when used by clinicians who are non-specialists in substance abuse treatment, particularly when enhancing entry to and engagement in more intensive substance abuse treatment treatment-as-usual. Data were inadequate to judge the effect of MI in the other domains. Client attribute-treatment interactions were understudied and the sparse and inconsistent findings revealed little about the mechanism by which MI works or for whom it works best. To determine more effectively how well MI works in domains other than substance abuse and for whom it works best in all domains, researchers should study MI with risk behaviors other than substance abuse, while examining both interactions and the theoretical components of MI.

THE IMPACT OF COMPUTER MONITORING AND NEGATIVE AFFECTIVITY ON TASK PERFORMANCE AND SATISFACTION.

Employee reactions to workplace practices are likely to vary based on attributes of both the situation and the individual. Computer performance monitoring is a practice that is used with increasing frequency, however its effects are not clearly understood. Social facilitation theory predicts that complex task performance will be impaired when individuals perform in the presence of others. These effects have been found even when the observer is not visible, as is often the case with computer performance monitoring. The invisibility of the observer during computer monitoring may create additional uncertainty for monitored individuals, which could potentially reduce task satisfaction levels. An individual's affective disposition may be an important factor in his or her ability to effectively adapt to such uncertainty. It is therefore proposed that negative affectivity (NA) may interact with computer monitoring practices to influence task satisfaction. Analyses of attribute-treatment interactions were conduct...

Attribute × Treatment Interaction Analysis of the Processes Underlying Food Orientation in the Double Runway

Abstract A two-step procedure, the first exploratory and the second confirmatory, was proposed for the study of attribute × treatment interactions (ATIs). ATI patterns resulting from the exploratory step suggested a number of hypotheses underlying food orientation in the double runway. The confirmatory step for testing those hypotheses was detailed. A second-order general running time factor pervaded all sessions. In addition, three first-order factors indicated that the processes underlying acquisition and extinction are symmetrical and perhaps activated by the relative strengths of hunger and exploratory disposition as they change over sessions. A fourth first-order factor seemed to measure emotional reactivity to thwarted expectancies and the ambiguity inherent in conditions of partial reinforcement.

Conceptual Matching Models and Interactional Research in Education

In recent years, considerable attention has focused on student-environment interactions in classroom settings. Numerous attempts have been made to depict the processes involved, often in terms of attribute-treatment interactions (ATI’s). Opinions differ about the net result of these efforts. On the one hand, there are those who note that few ATI’s have been reliably demonstrated, and point to inadequacies in both the theory and method being used. In contrast, there is a body of opinion which asserts that adequate theory and method already exist, within the framework of Conceptual Systems Theory (CST), and that there is sufficient empirical evidence to support this view. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the latter contention by undertaking a critical evaluation of both the theory and the educational research carried out within its framework. A number of theoretical problems are raised which, however, do not appear to detract from the overall framework but merely point to areas that need development and to pitfalls that can be avoided by the prospective researcher. An evaluation of experimental design issues leads to the development of an index of design adequacy which is used to rank studies. The majority of studies reviewed exhibit numerous design problems with a reasonable degree of adequacy being apparent only in a small group of “superior” studies. Thus, the consistent support afforded theoretical expectations by the majority of studies needs to be viewed with caution, although greater confidence can be placed in the substantial support for the matching model provided by the better studies. It is noted that the Conceptual System matching model has yet to be adequately tested under genuinely pedagogic conditions and that this is especially true of the developmental match. The paper ends with a discussion of the theoretical and practical issues that face the researcher who may wish to undertake such a test, and it is concluded that the theory offers a promising framework for interactional research in education.

Effects of guidance, sequence, and attribute-treatment interactions on learning, retention, and transfer of hierarchically ordered skills

An investigation was made of the effects of amount of guidance, sequence of instruction, and attribute-treatment interactions on speed of learning, retention, and transfer of ten intellectual skills that form part of a learning hiererchy and which are commonly part of secondary school physics courses. Four clearly-defined instructional methods were used; the methods form a linear scale from least to most guidance. It was found that the numbers of errors made in reaching a criterion performance on the skills decreased as the amount of guidance was increased, but transfer and retention were unaffected. Two sequence styles were used, which were both consistent with the requirement that no skill should be taught before the skills that were subordinate to it in the learning hierarchy. Form of sequence had no effect on speed of learning, retention, or transfer, and there was no interaction between sequence and amount of guidance. A novel method was employed to search for the presence of any interaction between attributes of learners and the amount of guidance. None was found. It is concluded that a maximum of guidance can be used to teach intellectual skills to all learners with no negative effect on retention and transfer. It is suggested that variables other than amount of guidance or sequence are more likely to affect a learner's retention or transfer of a skill. Finally, patterns of retention of skills that are connected in the learning hierarchy were found to be contrary to an earlier result. The patterns suggest that a skill in a learning hierarchy cannot be recalled unless its relevant subordinate skills are also recalled.