title: When does feedback facilitate learning of words?
abstract: Some researchers have suggested that although feedback may enhance performance during associative learning, it does so at the expense of later retention. To examine this issue, subjects (N = 258) learned Luganda-English word pairs. After 2 initial exposures to the materials, subjects were tested on each item several times, with the presence and type of feedback varying between subjects. A final test followed after 1 week. Supplying the correct answer after an incorrect response not only improved performance during the initial learning session--it also increased final retention by 494%. On the other hand, feedback after correct responses made little difference either immediately or at a delay, regardless of whether the subject was confident in the response. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0109, USA. hpashler@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Harold
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pashler
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Cepeda
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Wixted
authors.forename: Doug
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rohrer
mesh_terms: D005246:Feedback; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D014825:Vocabulary