Effects of immediate and delayed error correction on the acquisition and maintenance of sight words by students with developmental disabilities.

The team compared two ways to fix sight-word errors. One group got feedback right after each mistake. The other group heard the correct word only at the end of the whole session.

Students with developmental disabilities joined the study. The teachers used quick flip cards and kept score.

Right-away feedback won. Kids learned new words faster and kept them longer when errors were fixed on the spot.

Delayed feedback slowed learning on every measure the team tracked.

Lancioni et al. (2011) ran a near-copy of this study with older students who had moderate intellectual disability. They got the same result: fix errors right away and kids master words faster.

Kim et al. (2023) built on the idea but swapped the question. Instead of timing feedback, they asked how many trials kids need before moving on. Their new mastery rule plus short 12-trial bursts cut teaching time in half. The 2023 paper does not erase the 1994 finding; it adds a second lever you can pull.

Cariveau et al. (2019) looked at dozens of error-correction papers and said no single method is king. That sounds like a clash, but it is not. The review simply reminds us that kids, tasks, and settings differ. Immediate correction is still the safest starting point.

If you run discrete-trial reading lessons, give the correct word the moment an error happens. Do not wait until the end of the stack. This small shift costs nothing and speeds mastery. Pair it with Kim et al.’s 12-trial mini-sessions and you get a cheap, powerful combo for any learner who struggles with sight words.