An analysis of a performance feedback system: the effects of timing and feedback, public posting, and praise upon academic performance and peer interaction.
Publicly posting top scores plus praise doubles elementary writing and reading output within days.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Zentall et al. (1975) built a four-part package for elementary classrooms. Kids timed their own work, scored it, saw top scores posted on the wall, then heard teacher praise.
Two experiments tracked writing and reading output across days. A multiple-baseline design showed when each piece was added.
What they found
Academic output doubled within days. Kids wrote more words and read more lines after the public chart and praise appeared.
Peer comments about work also rose. The gains held as long as the package stayed in place.
How this fits with other research
Herman et al. (1971) tried intermittent feedback plus play for kindergarteners. R et al. added public posting and praise, proving the chart is the key boost.
Greene et al. (1978) moved the same idea to staff. They posted client graphs on the wall and beat praise alone, showing the chart works for adults too.
Rila et al. (2022) later gave teachers visual feedback on praise equity. Their mixed results warn us that posting numbers is powerful, but we must check who gets the praise.
Baranek et al. (2011) showed teacher feedback can be faded after check-in/check-out starts. This extends R et al. by suggesting public systems may keep working even when direct praise drops.
Why it matters
You can copy the 1975 package tomorrow. Give students a timer, an answer key, a public top-score board, and quick praise. Expect output to jump in days. Keep the chart visible; the data say it drives the change more than kind words alone.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
In the first experiment, after establishing baseline composition rates in each classroom, timing (announcing time limits) and feedback (student self-scoring) were introduced followed by the introduction, removal, and reintroduction of public posting of highest scores. Timing and feedback improved story writing performance and public posting of highest scores improved performance even further in both classrooms. Teacher praise produced further improvement in one classroom but had no effect on performance in the other. Changes in on-task behavior paralleled changes in writing rate. Comments made by children concerning their own work or work of their peers were recorded throughout the experiment. Although the baseline rate of performance comments was almost zero, the introduction of each variable markedly increased the rate of performance comments. In the second experiment, baseline rates on reading and language exercises were established in a fifth-grade classroom. The entire performance feedback system was introduced on a multiple baseline across the two behaviors and then removed during the final phase of the experiment. Introducing the system improved performance on both tasks. These results further increased the generality of some of the findings of the previous experiment and of previous research on the efficacy of the experimental package of timing, feedback, public posting, and praise.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1975 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1975.8-449