Effects of immediacy of feedback and level of aspiration statements on learning tasks for delinquent youngsters

The performance of institutionalized delinquent youngsters on paired associate learning tasks was investigated to determine whether level of aspiration (LOA) statements were associated with improved performance under varying feedback conditions. The effects of the feedback conditions were also examined. Forty-eight male adolescents were randomly assigned to the following six treatment conditions: (1) Delayed Feedback, (2) Delayed Feedback with LOA, (3) Immediate Feedback, (4) Immediate Feedback with LOA, (5) No Feedback, (6) No Feedback with LOA. The LOA conditions produced significantly better performance than did the no-LOA conditions. Implications for curricular intervention are discussed.     

Effects of normative feedback on motor learning are dependent on the frequency of knowledge of results

Studies on normative feedback have shown superior motor learning outcomes for individuals who believe that they are performing better than others through increased self-efficacy. Nevertheless, the effects of normative feedback were never dissociated from the knowledge of results (KR) provided to the learners which potentially interacts with self-efficacy as well. Thus, we investigated whether the effects of normative feedback on motor learning, associated with self-efficacy, would be dependent on the amount of KR provided. Fifty-six participants were randomly assigned to four experimental groups in terms of KR frequency (100% and 33%) and normative feedback (positive and negative). In the acquisition phase, all groups received the average KR of their performance at the end of each block of trials (True feedback) and a fake KR based on their own performance (but said to be from a group of participants who practiced the same task) (False Feedback). The False Feedback indicated better or worse performance of the participant in comparison to the fake group, depending on their experimental group. Retention tests were performed immediately and after 24 h from the acquisition phase. To measure self-efficacy, a questionnaire on participant's efficacy was applied before the first block, after each block of trials and before the retention tests. The results revealed superiority of positive normative feedback and 100% KR frequency, compared to negative normative feedback and 100% KR frequency in the 24h retention test. No difference was found between the groups with a frequency of 33% of KR (positive and negative). All groups increased self-efficacy during practice, but there was no difference between groups at any stage of the study. We conclude that the effects of normative feedback on motor learning are dependent on the KR frequency. However, they were not associated with self-efficacy.     

The Effect of Type of Feedback in Multiple-Choice Testing on Long-Term Retention

We investigated how different types of feedback in multiple-choice testing influence long-term retention. Participants completed an initial multiple-choice test on general-knowledge questions. Then, they were randomly placed into one of the following four conditions: feedback displaying the original question and four alternative options including the correct answer (Feedback 1); feedback displaying the original question and the correct answer (Feedback 2); feedback displaying only the correct answer (Feedback 3); and no feedback (Control). On the final test two days later, participants in the feedback conditions showed improved retention—even participants who received Feedback 3 outperformed the control group, regardless of whether feedback followed correct or incorrect responses. There was no difference between the feedback conditions when feedback followed correct responses, but Feedback 1 was superior to Feedback 3 when feedback followed incorrect responses. The function of feedback in multiple-choice testing is to maintain correct responses and to correct erroneous responses.     

The effects of experimenter's instructions, feedback, and praise on teacher praise and student attending behavior

Systematic use of experimenter's instructions, feedback, and feedback plus social praise was used to increase teacher praise for student attending behavior of three elementary school teachers. Experimenter's verbal interactions with teachers, teacher's verbal praise for student behaviors, and pupil attending behavior were recorded during baseline conditions. As the three successive experimental conditions were introduced first with Teacher A, then with Teacher B, in a multiple baseline design, behaviors of the experimenter, the two teachers, and eight students were measured and recorded. In the cases of Teachers A and B, experimental condition one (Instructions) and experimental condition two (Feedback) produced inconclusive results. Experimental condition three (Feedback Plus Social Praise) produced more teacher praise for student attending behavior. The entire "Package" of Experimenter's Instructions, Feedback, and Feedback Plus Social Praise was introduced to Teacher C in a single experimental condition. As in the cases of Teachers A and B, behaviors measured were: (1) the experimenter's verbal interactions, (2) the teacher's praise of students, and (3) the student's attending behavior. Introduction of the "Package" also produced more teacher praise for student attending behavior.     

Some effects of progressively lowering electromyographic levels with feedback procedures on the frequency of stuttered verbal behaviors

Feedback procedures were used to progressively decrease the EMG activity of three stutterers during connected speech tasks. Single subject experimental designs were used which allowed for procedural changes as dictated by each subject's performance. All three subjects demonstrated clinically significant decreases in disfluencies and generalization of the treatment effects for an oral reading task, while one of the subjects also showed this effect for a conversational speech task. The subjects' strategies for manipulating the feedback tone seemed to be related to reduction in many of the motoric and prosodic complexities of speech which may have been importantly related to enhancing and maintaining fluency.     

Group vs individual information processing: The effects of outcome feedback on decision making

Recent theories of individual decision making have emphasized the role of environmental feedback on decision performance and confidence. However, in relation to group decision making, feedback has received only minor attention. This study compared individual and group decision performance and confidence on a multicue personnel decision task under three different feedback conditions. Individuals and five-person groups decided whether to promote 48 different job candidates, and rated how confident they were in each of their decisions. Feedback as to the correctness of their decisions was provided after (a) every decision (Total Feedback), (b) only those decisions to promote the candidate (Partial Feedback), or (c) after none of the decisions (No Feedback). Results indicated that groups performed best under total feedback, while individuals performed best under partial feedback. In addition, greater amounts of feedback reduced individuals' confidence but had little effect on group member confidence. Implications for both current theory in decision making and group vs individual information processing are discussed.     

反馈效价影响家族相似性类别学习的ERPs研究

采用事件相关电位技术,以大学生为被试,运用被试间实验设计探讨反馈效价（积极反馈,消极反馈）对家族相似性类别学习的影响。研究结果表明,行为结果上相比积极反馈,消极反馈在推理测验中的成绩显著优于积极反馈。脑电结果上,P200,P300和FRN均与家族相似性类别学习中的反馈加工有关;家族相似性类别学习中,积极反馈与消极反馈存在不对称性。相比于无反馈的条件,P300对消极反馈更加的敏感,消极反馈诱发更大的波幅,而P300对于有无积极反馈并不敏感。说明消极反馈条件下,吸引学习者投入更多的注意资源进行认知加工。此外,相比无反馈条件下,消极反馈条件下FRN有更大的激活,说明了消极反馈对被试以后的行为起着更大的调节作用。总之,研究表明相比于积极反馈,消极反馈对家族相似性类别学习更加有效,错误驱动发挥较大作用。     

Effects of Social-Comparative Memory Feedback on Eyewitnesses' Identification Confidence,Suggestibility, and Retrospective Memory Reports

In 2 experiments, college students watched a videotaped theft and either recounted it orally or completed an objective memory test about it. Later, some eyewitnesses received either positive or negative feedback about these memory reports, suggesting a cowitness's report agreed or disagreed with theirs or that they had better or worse memory accuracy than most cowitnesses. Feedback influenced a number of subsequent memory-related responses. Witnesses who had received positive (vs. no) memory feedback later evinced heightened suggestibility in terms of accepting misinformation embedded in a memory interview and made identifications more confidently, quickly, and (in one condition) accurately. Witnesses who had received negative memory feedback evinced heightened suggestibility, made identifications less confidently, and recalled the witnessing and identification experience as involving poorer conditions for memory. Feedback appears to influence the overall self-credibility of memory, thereby altering confidence in both the feedback-specific memory and other aspects of memory for the event.     

A perceptual comparison between paired stimulus and single stimulus methods of presentation of the fluent utterances of stutterers

This investigation compared tape recordings containing the fluent utterances of treated stutterers with those of normal speakers as paired stimuli and single stimuli as presented to 20 sophisticated judges. Fluent utterances were obtained from stutterers successfully treated in one of the following programs: (1) Van Riperian, (2) metronome-conditioning speech retraining, (3) delayed auditory feedback, (4) operant conditioning, (5) precision fluency shaping program, and (6) holistic therapy. In addition, a group of partially treated stutterers were included. The original tape recordings containing matched samples of the fluent utterances of a stutterer and normal speaker were presented as paired stimuli. These paired samples were then separated, randomized, and assembled individually on another tape recording and presented as single stimuli to the same judges. The results of the statistical analysis indicated that the fluent utterances of treated stutterers was perceptibly different from the fluent utterances of nonstutterers, regardless of the method of stimulus presentation.     

Hearing your voice through bone and air: Implications for explanations of stuttering behavior from studies of normal speakers

Cherry and Sayers (1956) reported that stutterers have problems dealing with sound fed back to the ears through bone. Their experimental support for this claim is reexamined. It is shown that their technique does not produce the same bone-conducted feedback as produced by the speaker while speaking. Their results are reinterpreted as showing that stutterers have problems when speaking in the presence of low frequency sound because of its masking properties, rather than because the sound originates in bone-conducted feedback.     

Improving young drivers’ speed management behaviour through feedback: A cognitive training intervention

The aim of the present study was to examine which aspect of content-based feedback about drivers’ speed management behaviour (performance, financial infringements and safety implications for speeding) yielded positive changes in compliance with the speed limit. One hundred young drivers were randomly allocated to one of five groups (Control, Performance Feedback, Performance and Finance Feedback, Performance and Safety Feedback, Combined Feedback). Depending on group randomly allocated to, participants completed a baseline drive and received feedback about their speed management (except control). Immediately after, all groups completed a post-training drive, followed by a second drive one week later. A reduced sample (25 per cent dropout) completed a third test drive six month post-training. All drives were completed in a computer-based driving simulator. Feedback pertaining to their speed management behaviour was provided verbally immediately after the baseline drive by the researcher. Performance Feedback group received feedback about own speed-related performance (e.g., mean speed, time violated during the drive); Performance and Finance Feedback group received feedback about own performance and potential fines that could be received for exceeding the speed limit; Performance and Safety Feedback group received feedback about own performance and potential safety outcomes for them and other passengers; the Combined Feedback group received feedback about own performance, financial infringements and safety implications for speeding; and the Control group received no feedback. The results showed that all types of feedback are effective in modifying young drivers’ speed management behaviour, and these effects were present up to six months post-training in both low and high-speed zones. These findings have valuable implications in the development of a new training approach to improve young drivers’ speed management behaviour.     

Perceptual study of the speech of “successfully therapeutized” stutterers

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if the fluent speech of “successfully therapeutized” stutterers and a group of partially treated stutterers was perceptually different from the fluent speech of normal speaking subjects. Tape recorded speech samples of treated stutterers were obtained from leading exponents of (1) Van Riperian, (2) metronome-conditioned speech retraining, (3) delayed auditory feedback, (4) operant conditioning, (5) precision fluency shaping, and (6) “holistic” therapy programs. All forms of disfluency were edited out of these tapes. The remaining samples were then paired with matched fluent samples of normal talkers and presented to a group of 20 sophisticated judges. The judges were instructed to select from each paired speech sample presented to them the one produced by the stuttering subject. The results of the analyses of variance for correct identification of the stutterers showed that the partially treated stutterers, as well as each group of therapeutized stutterers, were identified at levels significantly above chance. This meant that the fluent speech of the partially and successfully treated stutterers was perceptibly different from the utterances of the normal speakers sampled. In addition, the analyses of variance also revealed that all stuttering groups had a significant severity factor. This finding indicated there was a significant difference between the severity subgroup in all the samples investigated. These results were discussed in terms of their clinical implications.     

Effect of Age,Feedback, and Practice on Ability to Respond Within a Fixed Time Interval

Accuracy and consistency of response within a fixed time interval as a function of age and practice with feedback were investigated. The task was pressing a telegraph key within a given interval following the last release of the key. The interval was empty and was pre-set at 2.75-3.24 sec. One piece of candy was dispensed for each inter-response-interval (IRI) which was correct. For both number of correct IRIs and SD of IRI significant effects were noted for Age, Feedback, and Practice. In addition, for SD of IRI, Age and Feedback interacted significantly. Magnitudinal feedback appeared to be more confusing than either specific or directional feedback and resulted in less improvement than either of the latter.     

Effects of hearing the past, present, or future during music performance

Three experiments were performed to explore the effects of mismatches between actions (key-presses) and the contents of auditory feedback (pitch events) during music performance. Pianists performed melodies from memory during altered auditory feedback that was synchronized with key-presses but matched the pitch of other sequence events. Feedback direction was manipulated by presenting pitches that matched events intended for the past (delays; Experiments 1 and 3) or the future (prelays; Experiments 2 and 3). Feedback distance was manipulated by varying the absolute separation between the current event and the location of the feedback pitch. All alterations disrupted the accuracy of performance (pitch errors) more so than timing. Serial-ordering errors indicated confusions among proximal and metrically similar events, consistent with the predictions of an incremental planning model (Palmer & Pfordresher, 2003). Patterns of serial-ordering errors suggested that performers compensate for the disruptive effects of altered feedback by changing event activations during planning.     

Unsophisticated judges' perceptual evaluations of the speech of “successfully treated” stutterers

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if the speech of “successfully therapeutized” stutterers and a group of partially treated stutterers was perceptually different from the speech of normal speakers when judged by unsophisticated listeners. Tape-recorded speech samples of treated stutterers were obtained from leading proponents of (1) Van Riperian, (2) metronome-conditioned speech retraining, (3) delayed auditory feedback, (4) operant conditioning, (5) precision fluency shaping, and (6) “holistic” therapy programs. Fluent speech samples from these groups of stutterers were paired with matched fluent samples of normal talkers and presented to a group of 20 unsophisticated judges. The judges were instructed to select from each paired speech sample presented to them the one produced by the stuttering subject. The results of the analyses showed that five of seven experimental groups were identified at levels significantly above chance. It can be concluded that the fluent speech of the partially and successfully treated stutterers was perceptibly different from the utterances of the normal speakers and that the perceptual disparity can be detected, even by unsophisticated listeners.     

Risk communication and worry about breast cancer

Feedback concerning breast cancer risk was provided to 59 college-aged women who were overestimating their personal risk. In a 2 (Absolute Risk Feedback; yes or no) ×?2 (Comparative Risk Feedback; yes or no) design, women completed a brief risk questionnaire and then received both, one, or neither kind of risk feedback. Absolute information reduced estimates of vulnerability, although not to the levels suggested by the feedback. Absolute feedback had no effect on worry about breast cancer, but worry was lower for women who learned that they were no more at risk than other, similar women.     

Feedback effects on sequential ordering in humans

Under various feedback conditions, 38 college undergraduates were asked to rearrange abstract graphic characters on a computer screen, placing them in arbitrarily designated “correct” sequences. Two sets of seven horizontally arrayed stimuli were used. In Experiment 1, subjects in Group 1 learned to arrange the first set under Selection Feedback in which a “+” appeared above each character after it was selected in the correct order and to arrange the second set under Order Feedback in which a correct response produced a copy of the character in its correct ordinal position at the top of the screen. For Group 2 the order of these conditions was reversed. In Experiment 2, for subjects in Group 3, correct responses produced neither of these types of feedback. Subjects in Group 4 received Order Feedback only until the first set was correctly ordered once. Order Feedback was more effective than Selection Feedback during initial acquisition of the first set but not during maintenance; no differences were found for the second set. Only 2 of 9 subjects successfully put the characters in correct sequential order under the No Feedback condition. When, in Experiment 2, Order Feedback was eliminated after the first correctly arranged sequence, the steady-state criteria were met more slowly than in Experiment 1.     

An analysis of a token economy in stuttering therapy

A stuttering therapy program in which adult stutterers were hospitalized and treated in small groups (n = 4) under token economy conditions is described. The Token System reinforced reductions and penalized increases in stuttering during conversation. The therapy program was divided into three stages. Initially, subjects were treated by the token system, which was then integrated with a delayed auditory feedback schedule designed to instate and shape a prolonged speech pattern into normal fluent speech. Finally, subjects passed through a speech situation hierarchy while under token control conditions. Experiments conducted in the first two stages of treatment are described. The first-stage experiments examined the design of the token system; the second-stage experiment assessed the effect of a contingent punishment schedule integrated with the delayed auditory feedback procedure in order to shape rate of speaking as well as fluency.     

Combined Audience and Video Feedback With Cognitive Review Improves State Anxiety and Self-Perceptions During Speech Tasks in Socially Anxious Individuals

This study investigated the effects of combined audience feedback with video feedback plus cognitive preparation, and cognitive review (enabling deeper processing of feedback) on state anxiety and self-perceptions including perception of performance and perceived probability of negative evaluation in socially anxious individuals during a speech performance. One hundred and forty socially anxious students were randomly assigned to four conditions: Cognitive Preparation + Video Feedback + Audience Feedback + Cognitive Review (CP + VF + AF + CR), Cognitive Preparation + Video Feedback + Cognitive Review (CP + VF + CR), Cognitive Preparation + Video Feedback only (CP + VF), and Control. They were asked to deliver two impromptu speeches that were evaluated by confederates. Participants’ levels of anxiety and self-perceptions pertaining to the speech task were assessed before and after feedback, and after the second speech. Compared to participants in the other conditions, participants in the CP + VF + AF + CR condition reported a significant decrease in their state anxiety and perceived probability of negative evaluation scores, and a significant increase in their positive perception of speech performance from before to after the feedback. These effects generalized to the second speech. Our results suggest that adding audience feedback to video feedback plus cognitive preparation and cognitive review may improve the effects of existing video feedback procedures in reducing anxiety symptoms and distorted self-representations in socially anxious individuals.