Contingency management in an introductory psychology course produces better learning.

The authors built a college psychology course around Keller’s Personalized System of Instruction.

Students earned tokens by passing short unit tests.

No lectures. Students moved at their own pace with proctors and had to master each unit before advancing.

The team compared final-exam scores and course ratings with a regular lecture section.

The PSI group scored higher on the final exam.

They also gave the course better ratings than the lecture group.

Both learning and satisfaction improved when contingencies managed the work.

Brown et al. (1972) ran the same PSI versus lecture setup three years later and got the same lift in exam scores.

Navarick et al. (1972) zoomed in on proctoring inside PSI. They showed that any proctoring beats none, and more proctoring mainly speeds course finish, not scores.

Born et al. (1974) tracked study time and found PSI students learned slightly more without spending extra hours.

Together the four studies form a clear line: PSI beats lecture, proctoring helps, and the edge is efficient.

If you teach college courses, run staff training, or supervise RBT coursework, swap lectures for unit-based mastery with clear tokens or check-offs. Add proctors to keep learners moving. You will likely see higher test scores and happier students without extra class time.