Using behavioral instruction to teach American Psychological Association citation formatting
A 20-minute online module with practice and a 90 % mastery gate quickly brings graduate students to near-perfect APA citation accuracy.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Parry-Cruwys et al. (2022) built short online lessons that teach graduate students how to write APA citations. Each lesson had a video, practice items, and instant feedback. Students had to score 90 % or better before moving on.
The team used a multiple-baseline design across three citation rules. They tracked accuracy on brand-new citation tasks to see if the skill traveled.
What they found
Most students jumped from below 50 % to above 90 % correct after one or two modules. The gains showed up right away and held when students faced new citation examples.
Online mastery-based teaching, even brief, can produce large, immediate skill gains for typical graduate students.
How this fits with other research
Sarber et al. (1983) warned that hard probe trials can create false-negative error patterns. Parry-Cruwys used easier probes tied to the same rules, so their 90 % mastery bar looked real, not misleading.
Batton et al. (2022) also ran ABA training fully online for adults and saw positive results. Both studies show that telehealth modules can work when practice plus feedback are built in.
Garcia et al. (1973) found that required remediation quizzes raised college exam scores by half a letter grade. The new study mirrors that pattern: mandatory mastery steps lifted citation accuracy to the A range.
Why it matters
If you teach graduate students, supervise RBTs, or run staff trainings, you can copy this package: 5-minute video, 5-10 practice questions, and a 90 % mastery gate. The whole module takes under 20 minutes and yields 90 % plus accuracy on the next paper they write. No live lecture needed.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AbstractThe present study used an online behavioral instruction program to teach accurate American Psychological Association (APA) citation formatting to nine graduate students. The participants completed two self‐paced, online training modules targeting the correct formation of full reference and in‐text citations, which consisted of the three elements of behavioral instruction: multiple practice opportunities, mastery criteria, and automatic feedback provided contingent on response. Training occurred using a concurrent multiple baseline design across skills (for seven participants) or nonconcurrently across participants (for two participants). Most participants did not correctly use APA citation formatting when probed in the baseline condition. Following training, participants increased their accuracy in APA citations across trained and novel exemplars. Two participants’ data showed limited functional control due to increases in baseline. One participant required an additional visual checklist to reach the mastery criterion for one skill. Social validity was also assessed with overall confidence in using APA citation formatting increasing following completion of the modules. Participants reported overall satisfaction with the online modules stating that they were helpful in teaching correct citation implementation and were easy to use. Limitations to the current study and future uses of behavioral instruction as a technology are discussed.
Behavioral Interventions, 2022 · doi:10.1002/bin.1904