Predicting self-efficacy and performance during skill acquisition.

Abstract

Subjects completed 7 trials of a complex computer task that simulated the job of an air traffic controller. Performance was calculated by combining points for the number of planes landed minus penalty points. Throughout the trials, subjects completed questionnaires assessing their self-efficacy, goals, expected performance, and the degree to which certain judgments required more or less cognitive processing. The results showed that during skill acquisition people report reductions in their cognitive processing for working on the task and for making self-efficacy judgments. Also, on early trials, self-efficacy is a better predictor of performance than are expected score or goals, whereas the reverse is true for later trials. The discussion focuses on understanding motivational processes during skill acquisition