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Leaders of Tomorrow! MARCH 1998 MBC Wolverine OBSERVER 15
Advancing and applying the science of training
CERT
CENTER OF
EXCELLENCE FOR
RESEARCH ON
TRAINING
Hamilton House
Morris Brown College
Advancing and applying
the science of training
The Center of Excellence for
Research on Training (CERT)
was established in 1993 at
Morris Brown College with a
twofold mission: to conduct
research on factors that affect
training and to encourage and
facilitate the participation of
minority students in this field
of research.
With funds provided by the U.S.
Army Research Office and other
agencies, CERT scientists conduct re
search to find more effective methods
of training people, especially research
in human factors as they are applied
in high-stress or high-technology
environments.
Perhaps nowhere is this research
more important than in the military.
Modern weapon systems and tactics
are increasingly complex. They de
mand vigilant operators able to make
decisions quickly - often under stress
ful conditions and based on informa
tion extracted from cluttered and
incomplete sets of stimuli.
Intensive and extensive practice is
essential to develop the cognitive and
motor skills required for proper oper
ation of these weapon systems. How
ever, monetary, environmental and
safety concerns preclude using actual
weapon systems for training purposes
except under very hmited conditions.
The armed forces, therefore, have
an enduring interest in developing
safe and economical technologies for
teaching the complex cognitive skills
demanded by modern weapons and
tactics. CERT is committed to ad
vancing research in this field and to
applying the science of psychology to
other training environments where its
practice can improve knowledge and
performance.
Research Fellowships
In keeping with its mission to
increase minority participation in this
field of research, CERT provides
several research fellowships each year
to minority students who wish to pur
sue graduate studies in psychology.
In collaboration with major universi
ties in the city of Atlanta, CERT
places the selected students in an ap
propriate program, pays them a living
stipend, and extends them the oppor
tunity to do their master s degree or
Ph.D. research with one of CERTs
scientists.
Each academic year, CERT employs
12 to 15 undergraduates selected from
Morris Brown College and from three
other historically black colleges in the
Atlanta University Center to work as
research assistants in its labs. Project
investigators serve as mentors for
these students and help them to de
velop a general understanding of the
principles and methods of scientific
research.
CERT alone cannot steer enough
minority students into human factors
or cognitive science careers to correct
the minority representation in these
fields, but we can show that minority
undergraduates will, given the oppor
tunity, become interested in these
fields of research and will enthusias
tically embark in study programs
leading to research careers in scien
tific psychology.
Research Goals
CERT investigates factors that affect
performance and develops and evalu
ates training techniques that influ
ence proficiency. CERT scientists
pursue the systematic and integrated
study of perception, attention and
memory processes and the relation of
these to learning and behavior. This
approach provides an empirical basis
for the development and evaluation of
training procedures, instructional ma
terials, selection criteria and time-
critical task performance.
Visual Learning and
Performance Laboratory
Perhaps no training in decision
making is more critical - or more
complicated - than that employed
in preparing police and other peace
keepers to face “shoot/don’t-shoot”
situations. Supported in part by a
grant from the Office of Naval
Research, investigators in the Visual
Learning and Performance Lab ex
plore the factors that influence the
split-second decisions, often based on
subtle cues and under difficult condi
tions, that are necessary to accurately
detect and identify potential threats
to soldiers and police officers. Using
a realistic firearms simulator and
scientific measures of the subject’s
attention, the Visual Learning Labor
atory studies the cognitive processes
at work in detecting threats amid
other stimuli, deciding whether to
shoot, and, if necessary, shooting
accurately.
Learning and Memory
Laboratory
Researchers in the Learning and
Memory Lab explore the wide range
of variables involved in memorization,
recall and learning in order to develop
better means of instruction. For in
stance, using computer games created
at CERT especially for the purpose,
researchers test how subjects inte
grate cognitive and sensory-motor
skills and how they acquire new skills
through instruction, repetition and
practice-information that can be used
to develop training procedures that
will result in faster learning and
better performance at a computer
terminal.
Other studies in the Learning and
Memory Lab focus on the interaction
between the two major factors involv
ed in memorization - the type of ma
terial being memorized and the stra
tegies employed to learn it - so that
trainers can employ the most efficient
methods to disseminate information.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
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