Assessing memory decay rate

Abstract

Threat vehicle identification (TVI) is a key warfighter task that is susceptible to memory decay. This research investigates the best predictors of performance decrement in TVI. Thirty U.S. military officers were randomly assigned to groups that trained on TVI using 10 thermal and 10 visible vehicle images on the U.S. Army's Recognition of Combat Vehicles (ROC-V) program. Groups returned once at 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 days after initial training. Participants also completed a recognition memory test (RMT) for memory assessment. The results indicate that memory does not decay exponentially for the TVI task. However, participants performed significantly worse on thermal images than visible images. The RMT scores and training time were significant performance predictors. The tests in ROC-V were found to not be representative of the real world task. Results of this study could help reduce the risk of fratricide by addressing this gap in TVI training.Military tasks differ in how quickly they are forgotten (Hagman & Rose, 1983). The relevant literature identifies certain factors contribute to decay rate such as time and individual memory ability. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that predict decay rate skills previously learned by warfighters. Minimizing decay rate for warfighters can increase their performance while decreasing training costs and resource expenditure.