The Organization and Acquisition of Complex Perception      Action Skills
{'Code': '04040500', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'SBE', 'LongName': 'Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'BCS', 'LongName': 'Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Jasmine Young', 'PO_EMAI': 'jyoung@nsf.gov', 'PO_PHON': '7032924833'}
People learn a remarkable variety of perception-action skills                   during their lifetime, from playing sports and musical                          instruments to operating vehicles and using computers.  Our                     ability to acquire such skills in relatively short periods of                   time is remarkable and unique.  Other animals perform highly                    skilled actions, but are unable to learn new skills beyond                      relatively narrow behavioral limits.  Understanding how such                    skills are acquired and performed is critical for building                      theories of human learning and action.  This knowledge is also                  important for devising optimal training techniques and for                      designing machines capable of skilled action.  Unfortunately,                   very little is known about the processes that underlie the                      acquisition and performance of skilled action.                                                                                                                  The present research will examine skill learning and performance                on especially designed computer-controlled video tasks.  In these               tasks, expertise takes considerable time to develop and requires                the precise coordination of many different actions.  These skills               are similar to the kinds of perception-action skills used in a                  wide variety of everyday contexts.                                                                                                                              The project will consist of three studies.  The first study will                examine some of the characteristics that define skill at                        different levels of expertise.  In particular, it will assess                   whether differences between experts, intermediates, and novices                 reside primarily in the individual component skills required for                a task or primarily in how the components are combined.  The                    results from this study will permit the isolation of the features               of skill that contribute most to high levels of expertise.  The                 second study will examine the learning mechanisms involved in the               acquisition of expertise.  Complete novices will practice over                  eight sessions.  A complete record of performance will be                       collected, as well as interview data of people's understanding of               the task.  These data will permit the documentation of the phases               of learning subjects pass through in acquiring expertise and how                different types of knowledge contribute to the learning process.                The third study will explore the specific ways in which observing               others' performances affects learning.  It will examine how the                 effect of observing others depends on when the observation occurs               and on the level of expertness of the observed performance.  The                findings will be important for understanding how learning                       processes utilize different types of information as well as for                 suggesting techniques for increasing the speed of learning.                                                                                                     This research promises to provide important information on how                  people acquire complex skills and insights into designing optimal               methods of instruction.
[{'FirstName': 'Marshall', 'LastName': 'Haith', 'PI_MID_INIT': None, 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Marshall Haith', 'EmailAddress': None, 'NSF_ID': '000393481', 'StartDate': '09/01/1987', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Co-Principal Investigator'}, {'FirstName': 'Ralph', 'LastName': 'Roberts', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'J', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': 'Jr.', 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Ralph J Roberts', 'EmailAddress': None, 'NSF_ID': '000214297', 'StartDate': '09/01/1987', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}]
{'Name': 'University of Denver', 'CityName': 'DENVER', 'ZipCode': '802104711', 'PhoneNumber': '3038712000', 'StreetAddress': '2199 S UNIVERSITY BLVD RM 222', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Colorado', 'StateCode': 'CO', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '01', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'CO01', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'WCUGNQQ8DZU1', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'UNIVERSITY OF DENVER', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': 'WCUGNQQ8DZU1'}
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{'Code': '118000', 'Text': 'HUMAN COGNITION & PERCEPTION'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1986&All=true', 'xml': '8618043.xml'}