The Effects of Mastery Criteria on Maintenance: A Replication With Most-to-Least Prompting
Set mastery at 90–100% accuracy if you want skills to stick; 80% criteria risk post-teaching loss.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Longino et al. (2022) tested three mastery criteria during most-to-least prompting. They taught new tacting skills using progressive time delay. The team compared 80%, 90%, and 100% accuracy goals.
Participants reached each criterion before moving on. Later, the researchers checked which skills stayed strong without extra teaching.
What they found
Skills taught to 90% or 100% accuracy held up better over time. The 80% group lost more answers during follow-up checks. Higher bars at the end meant stronger staying power later.
How this fits with other research
Semb (1974) saw the same pattern in college students decades earlier. That class work also showed 100% mastery beat a lower 60% cutoff, giving an early hint that tough criteria pay off.
Reichow et al. (2011) used a cousin procedure, progressive prompt delay, and still saw wide maintenance swings. Their 58–92% range shows that even with solid prompting, some loss can happen; Longino tightens the picture by pinning the loss to the 80% criterion.
Brand et al. (2020) found 100% feedback accuracy beat 80% for brand-new learning. Longino moves the accuracy check from feedback delivery to the mastery line and gets the same winner: 100% tops 80%.
Why it matters
Raise your mastery line to 90–100% before you call a skill learned. An 80% cutoff feels faster but can cost you re-teaching time later. Pick the higher bar, run a few extra trials, and the skill is more likely to stick when you fade prompts.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Previous research has suggested that skills taught with a least-to-most prompting procedure to 80% and 90% accuracy did not always maintain high levels of performance maintenance. The present study replicates and extends previous research by evaluating the effects of various mastery criteria (i.e., 80%, 90%, and 100% accuracy across three consecutive sessions) on the maintenance of tacting skills taught with a most-to-least prompting procedure combined with a progressive time delay. Results of this study support previous research and further demonstrate that the highest levels of maintenance are achieved with 100% and 90% accuracy criteria for up to a month. For the 80% criterion, performance deteriorated during follow-up probes. Contrary to previous research suggesting a 90% criterion combined with least-to-most prompting procedures was not always sufficient for producing skill maintenance, the current study may provide preliminary support for the use of a 90% accuracy mastery criterion when combined with a most-to-least prompting procedure with a progressive time delay.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2022 · doi:10.1007/s40617-021-00562-y