Effects of feedback and reinforcement in tachistoscopic training on a fault-detection task

This study looked at possible differential effects of feedback and reinforcement on a stimulated fault-detection task. Volunteer college students, 11 females and 13 males, participated in the study. Subjects were assigned to three different groups and tachistoscopically presented with series of slides of intact and faulty cups randomly arranged. Subjects in Group 1 were shown a highly preferred slide following each correct detection (positive reinforcement). In Group 2, subjects received a second, longer presentation of every item responded to and every critical one omitted (knowledge of results). Subjects in Group 3 faced a blank screen during inter-stimulus intervals (practice control). Detection scores along five decreasing stimulus presentation times were recorded. Data indicate the treatment conditions as equally efficient and significantly better than the control condition. However, performance of the control group did improve significantly throughout training which suggests the use of tachistoscope as a training device per se. Commission and omission errors did not differ significantly within treatments, though both types of error were significantly elevated for the control group. A possible dissociation between the effects of reinforcers and feedback is discussed, and experiments which would tax higher levels of information processing are suggested to probe this issue further.