The Effect of a Mediation-Blocking Task on the Acquisition of Instructive Feedback Targets

The inclusion of instructive feedback in discrete-trial training has been shown to increase the efficiency of learning. However, the behavioral mechanism underlying the effectiveness of this procedure has not yet been determined. Researchers have suggested that learners covertly self-echo the feedback, which mediates later responding. The present study sought to understand the role of self-echoics in the acquisition of untaught targets. Participants were directly taught to tact pictures, then given instructive feedback after the praise statement. The 3 experimental conditions were (a) a typical instructive feedback procedure; (b) a vocal mediation-blocking procedure, in which the participants were asked to engage in a competing vocal response immediately after the instructive feedback; and (c) a motor-distraction procedure, in which the participants were asked to engage in a motor response immediately after the instructive feedback. The inclusion of the vocal mediation-blocking task had little effect on the participants' ability to learn the instructive feedback targets for all 3 participants.