Investigating the generality of the delayed-prompt effect

Two experiments were conducted in an attempt to replicate the findings of Touchette's classic 1971 experiment. The results obtained were more variable than those obtained by Touchette. Four of 34 subjects learned the Horizontal E discrimination without errors. Ten subjects preempted the red prompt stimulus erroneously. Twelve subjects failed to preempt. Among those who failed to preempt, at least six had not learned the target discrimination. There were also five subjects who failed to preempt who, on subsequent tests, demonstrated that they had learned the target discrimination. For these subjects, the onset of the prompt appeared to grant "permission to respond." An attempt is made to account for the differences in the current results and those of Touchette (1971). We also compare our results to the usually successful application of the delayed prompt to education and training problems. We note that the procedures used in these successful applications are often quite different from those in the original Touchette experiment and our own.