Evaluating the relative effects of feedback and contingent money for staff training of stimulus preference assessments.
Clear, immediate feedback teaches staff to run preference assessments; extra money without coaching wastes budget.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team wanted to know what really teaches staff to run a preference assessment.
They compared two things: clear, step-by-step feedback after each trial, or small cash bonuses with no coaching.
Adult staff worked with clients while the researchers counted correct assessment steps.
What they found
Staff only learned the skill when they got clear, performance-specific feedback.
Money alone did almost nothing.
Once feedback stopped, the new skill stuck for most workers.
How this fits with other research
Briggs et al. (2024) looked at 51 BST studies and found the same pattern: trimming feedback is the main way people try to save time.
Souza et al. (2023) also show BST works, but they add that telehealth packages can work too—so delivery can change, yet feedback stays key.
Wetterneck et al. (2006) seems to disagree at first: their computer lessons worked fast. But they still added brief supervisor feedback later, which matches the need for coaching shown here.
Why it matters
You can skip gift cards and bonuses. Just give staff quick, specific notes right after they try the assessment. A simple checklist and a 30-second chat after each trial beats any cash prize. Use that time saved to watch the next trial and give more feedback.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
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.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2006 · doi:10.1901/jaba.2006.7-05