Differentiation of perceptual invariants is proposed as a theoretical approacch to explain skill transfer for control at the human-machine interface. It is proposed that sensitivity to perceptual invariants in ehanced during learning and that this sensitivity forms the basis for transfer of skill from one task to another. The hypothesis implies that detection and discrimination of critical features, patterns, and dimensions of difference are important for learing andfor transfer. This account goes beyond other similarity conceptionsof transfer. To the extent that those conceptions are specific, they cannot account for effects in which performance is better following training on tasks that are less rather than more similar to the criterion task. In essence, this is a theory about the central role oflow-dimensional informational patterns for control of behavior within a high-dimensional environment, and about the adjustment of an actor's sensitivity to changes in those low-dimensional patterns.
Samenvatting