Examination of variables that affect the efficacy of instructive feedback

Two autistic children, ages 4 and 5, learned new labels for pictures.

The teacher gave extra information after each correct answer. This extra info is called instructive feedback.

The team watched two things: did the child look at the teacher, and did the child repeat the extra info out loud. They then changed how they gave the feedback to see if learning got better.

When the kids looked away or stayed quiet, they did not learn the extra labels.

When the kids looked and echoed the extra words, they did learn.

The team then paused the trial until the child looked and echoed. After this small change, both kids learned faster.

Tullis et al. (2021) used the same feedback trick but added match-to-sample and group lessons. Their kids also learned new intraverbal answers, showing the method works in bigger groups.

Durand et al. (1990) showed that echoic skills can last for years. Haq’s study says you must first secure strong echoic responses during feedback, or those long-term gains may never start.

Lewis et al. (2025) used compound prompts to fix reading errors. Like Haq, they proved that small prompt tweaks can flip failure into success.

Before you race through trials, watch the child. If eyes drift or lips stay shut, stop. Ask for eye contact and a quick echo of the extra word. This five-second pause can double learning speed.