drawings were a form of job aid that helped new learners visualize hunting strategies and locations.
In this chapter we will look at the history, current usage, and development of performance aids. We will also examine the learning multiplying effect of combining performance aids with other performance interventions listed in this book.
DESCRIPTION
We all have favorite performance aid stories, and mine comes from two different dry cleaners in my neighborhood. When I went to the first cleaner, a new employee was evidently learning the job. There was one person in front of me in the process of dropping off his cleaning. The new employee was trying to calculate the ticket, which included some pants to be cleaned, shirts to launder, and a suit that had a wine stain. He looked at the bill book, wrote some numbers down, and gave an outrageous price to the customer. The customer complained and the owner of the establishment came over to rectify the situation. He said to the employee; ''You have this all wrong . . . remember when we learned the pricing yesterday . . . the pants are . . . .'' He then proceeded to review the pricing structure on the spot. This was repeated when it was my turn. Two weeks later I went to a different cleaner with an armful of a variety of items for both dry cleaning and laundering and my ticket was calculated, accurately, within a couple of seconds. I asked the employee how long she had been working there and she said that she doesn't work there; she was just filling in for a friend for the day. When I said that I was surprised at how efficient she was, she pointed to a chart on the wall that I hadn't noticed. It was a matrix that listed all of the calculations for single or multiple pieces of clothing for both cleaning and laundering. All she had to do was to count up my items, look at the list and complete the bill. The matrix even listed special situations like stains, alterations, silk, and leather. I remembered the previous cleaner and saw that this was a wonderful example of instant performance without training.
It may have surprised you earlier that cave drawings can be construed as early performance aids, but man has been leaving messages to decode since he could make a permanent mark in his environment. When the message to be decoded has task performance implications, it can be defined as a performance aid. We have all been exposed to and have used these ''mind mnemonics'' for as long as we can remember. It is part of our shared cultural and genetic heritage.