Limitations of skill generalization beyond training

Using low-flying as a context, this study was designed to investigate whether risk assessment skills acquired during training would transfer to novel tasks when participants were provided with a reminder as to the similarities between the training flight and a test flight. Forty-five pilots were recruited and were allocated randomly to one of three groups: Hint, no hint, or control. Each pilot completed a training flight in the first week, followed by two test flights in the second week. The test flights required pilots to descend to complete the tasks, and the dependent variable, in each case, was the minimum altitude to which they descended. The results indicated that those pilots who received the reminder maintained a higher mean minimum altitude than those pilots who did not receive the reminder. The results are discussed in terms of the implications for the transfer of training in applied environments.