Effects of Imposed Postfeedback Delays in Programmed Instruction

Abstract

Imposed postfeedback delays promote discrimination training; the present experiments determined whether they also improve performance in programmed instruction. In two experiments, college students completed 45 sets of Holland and Skinner's (1961) programmed text on behavior analysis in a computerized format in a three-component multiple schedule. In Experiment 1, the conditions were (a) no delay between questions, (b) a 10-s delay after each question (noncontingent delay), and (c) a 10-s delay after each question answered incorrectly (contingent delay). Noncontingent delay produced better performance than no delay and contingent delay. To determine whether performance increased in the noncontingent delay condition because subjects studied the material during delay periods, Experiment 2 tested three conditions: (a) no delay between questions, (b) a 10-s delay after each question (noncontingent delay), and (c) a 10-s delay after each question with the screen blank during the delay period. Noncontingent delay produced better performance than no delay, but there was no difference in performance between no delay and noncontingent delay with blank screen. Hence, noncontingent delay improved performance because students used delay periods to study. Furthermore, subjects preferred noncontingent delay to the other conditions, and session time increased only slightly.DESCRIPTORS: computer-based instruction, programmed instruction, multiple schedule, delay, college students Programmed instruction is discrimination training: Learners examine a stimulus, emit a response, receive feedback, and consequently make appropriate responses in the presence of novel stimuli (Skinner, 1954(Skinner, , 1968. Several researchers have obtained superior discriminated performance with college students when delays were imposed after feedback on concept-identification tasks (e.g., Bourne, 1957;Bourne & Bunderson, 1963;Bourne, Guy, Dodd, & Justesen, 1965;White & Schmidt, 1972). In a typical study (Bourne, 1957), subjects were presented with geometric patterns that had seven dimensions, but only two were necessary for correct dassification. Subjects reported which combination of dimensions was correct (e.g., largeThe present experiments were supported by grants from Deakin University's Internal and Science Research Budgets. We are grateful to Linda Blackman, Suzanne Brown, Sezen Ildiri, and Jo Taraborrelli for collecting the data in Experiment 1; Andrew Eltringham for helping to prepare test items;and Phil Chase and Mike Perone for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.Reprint requests should be sent to John Crosbie, who is now at the Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506-6040. square, large triangle, small square, or small triangle). After all stimulus patterns had been presented, subjects pressed one of four unlabeled keys that corresponded to the four possible combinations of relevant dimensions. Following a delay between o s and 8 s, a light was illuminated above the corre...

Immediate and Delayed Effects of Imposed Postfeedback Delays in Computerized Programmed Instruction

“…After H35, H36, and H37 had attempted all questions in a set, those questions answered incorrectly were presented again until every frame had been answered correctly (cf. Crosbie & Kelly, 1994;Skinner, 1954Skinner, , 1968. Subjects H44, H45, and H46 did not repeat frames answered incorrectly.…”

“…The experimental space, computer equipment, screen display and layout, lesson format, exhibits, and a detailed account of a typical session are described in a previous paper (Crosbie & Kelly, 1994) and will only be summarized here. Subjects worked in a partitioned section of a large laboratory.…”

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A recent study (Crosbie & Kelly, 1994) showed that brief externally imposed postfeedback delays improved performance in computerized programmed instruction. The present experiment extended that analysis by using shorter sessions, a more powerful single-subject design, and better timing measures, and by assessing maintenance of training effects.

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“…Crosbie and Kelly (1994) addressed that question. In that study, college students completed sets of Holland and Skinner's (1961) programmed text on behavior analysis in a computerized format.…”

“…It seemed that Crosbie and Kelly's (1994) subjects worked faster to compensate for imposed delays. Unfortunately, that possibility could not be assessed directly because there was no separate measure of time spent in first attempts at frames, subsequent attempts at frames, and imposed delays.…”