Acquisition of Instructive Feedback: Relation to Target Stimulus

Abstract

We evaluated the addition of stimuli after the praise statement of a trial (instructive feedback) in which the stimuli were not attached sequentially to the target stimuli. All students reached criterion level responding of target behaviors despite the extra information presented, and three of four high school students with disabilities acquired many instructive feedback responses despite the presentation of the stimuli following any, rather than a given, target stimulus. The data leads to several conclusions: (a) The addition of unrelated instructive feedback revolving among the target stimuli did not impede the acquisition of the target behaviors, (b) The addition of unrelated instructive feedback revolving among the target stimuli did not preclude the acquisition of the instructive feedback information, (c) More information was acquired when more was presented after the praise statement of the instructional trial.