Acquisition and Retention of Cross-Cultural Interaction Skills Through Self-Confrontation

Item

Title
Acquisition and Retention of Cross-Cultural Interaction Skills Through Self-Confrontation
Date
1966
Index Abstract
Not Available
Photo Quality
Complete
Report Number
AMRL TR 66-8
Creator
Eachus, Herbert T.
King, Philip H.
Corporate Author
Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories
Laboratory
Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories
Extent
80
Identifier
AD0637719
Access Rights
Distribution of this document is unlimited
Distribution Classification
1
Contract
Laboratory Research - No Contract
DoD Project
1710
DoD Task
171008
DTIC Record Exists
No
Distribution Change Authority Correspondence
None
Distribution Conflict
No
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to assess relative effectiveness of two techniques for training United States Air Force military advisors in cross-cultural communicative skills. Retention of skills over time and effects of attitude on learning were also studied. A scenario required subjects to play the role of an Air Force Captain who had to interact in specified ways with a 'foreign counterpart,' a role played by a confederate of the experimenters. Subjects were to perform 57 distinct behaviors appropriate to the situation and to the fictitious cultural description, which gave either a positive, negative, or neutral impression of the culture. Sixty-six male subjects were divided into two groups and taught the desired behaviors either by extensive reading of training manuals followed by three role-playing sessions or by less reading but with self-confrontation by a videotape replay between successive role-play trials. Subjects returned and performed the same role again either 1 day, 1 week, or 2 weeks following initial training. Self-confrontation proved superior to manual reading in training the desired behaviors. Subjects with positive attitudes toward the culture learned fastest. Retention of skills learned through self-confrontation was high. A discussion of planned future research on cross-cultural training techniques and programs is given.
Report Availability
Full text available
Date Issued
1966-05
Provenance
RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine
Type
report
Format
1 online resource
Media
AMRLTR66-008.pdf