Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

2-2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Psychology

Advisor

Alicia Alvero

Committee Members

Robert Lanson

Patricia D'Ateno

Ramona Houmanfar

Heather McGee

Subject Categories

Applied Behavior Analysis | Psychology

Keywords

performance feedback, accuracy, speed, praise, goal setting

Abstract

In organizational behavior management, performance feedback is often described as information that is presented to a performer that enables a change in his or her future performance. Performance feedback is frequently used in combination with other procedures in applied settings. Despite its popularity, it is unclear whether performance feedback is more effective alone or in combination with procedures identified as behavioral consequences or antecedents. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine which combination of performance feedback was most effective to improve typing accuracy and speed. Participants were assigned to one of four groups: (1) no feedback group, (2) performance feedback-alone group, (3) performance feedback and goal group, or (4) performance feedback-with-praise group. As the quality and quantity of performance are important aspects of task completion in organizational settings participants were also presented with information on their typing accuracy and speed. Following a no-feedback condition (baseline), performance feedback was either presented on participants’ accuracy only, speed only, or both accuracy and speed, in a within-subject design. The results revealed no main effects of performance feedback combination on typing speed or accuracy. Conversely, when accuracy feedback, speed feedback, or combined accuracy and speed feedback was presented in all feedback groups, accuracy and speed scores increased compared to the no-feedback condition. The results suggest that providing participants with information about the quantity and/or quality of their typing performance is sufficient to improve performance above baseline levels.

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