Deficient Processing

Deficient processing is a term that references the difference between task recognition and task performance.

Simply put, this means that even though an individual has seen a task performed it is unlikely that they can reproduce that action without hands-on training. To scientifically demonstrate this hypothesis in 1983 the research team Shea and Zimmy proposed a theoretical framework to demonstrate this premise. This framework proposed that recognition and recall performance, although related to each other in the process of learning, can be partially separated and individually manipulated.

Two studies based on this hypothesis proved that recognition training (of a task) received prior to acquisition training kept the task in working memory all allowed for subsequent motor performance. This showed that having previously seen and recognized the tasks made imitating said task easier than a task undertaken without prior observation.