Retention of a standard operating procedure under the influence of social stress and refresher training in a simulated process control task.

In a simulated process control task, we investigated the effects of refresher training and acute social stress on performing a standard operating procedure (SOP) containing a production and monitoring task and knowledge recall after a retention interval of two weeks. In a 2 × 2 between-group design (Factor 1: induced social stress, Factor 2: refresher training), 76 engineering students performed an SOP at t1 in week 1 and at t2 in week 3. A MANOVA in week three (t2) indicated a main effect of the refresher training for the SOP execution containing a production and a monitoring task and an impairing effect of stress on the monitoring task.