Eileen M. Roscoe, Wayne W. Fisher, Ashley C. Glover, & Valerie M. Volkert. (2006)
Evaluating the relative effects of feedback and contingent money for staff
training of stimulus preference assessments.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
39, 63-77.
Performance feedback has facilitated the acquisition and maintenance of a
wide range of behaviors (e.g., health-care routines, seat-belt use). Most
researchers have attributed the effectiveness of performance feedback to
(a) its discriminative functions, (b) its reinforcing functions, or (c)
the combination of the two. In this study, we attempted to evaluate the
relative contributions of the discriminative and reinforcing functions of
performance feedback by comparing a condition in which the discriminative
functions were maximized and the reinforcing functions were minimized
(i.e., performance-specific instructions without contingent money) with
one in which the reinforcing functions were maximized and the discriminative
functions were minimized (i.e., contingent money with no performance-specific
instructions). We compared the effects of these two conditions on the
acquisition of skills involved in conducting two commonly used preference
assessments. Results showed that acquisition of these skills occurred
primarily in the condition with performance-specific instruction without
contingent money, suggesting that the delivery of performance-specific
instructions was critical to skill acquisition, whereas the delivery of
contingent money had little effect.
DESCRIPTORS: behavioral skills training, feedback, organizational
behavior management, preference assessments, staff training