Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Three experiments investigate the influence of feedback timing on skill acquisition in the context of learning LISP. In experiment 1 subjects receiving immediate feedback went through the training material in 4 0 % less time than did those receiving delayed feedback, but learning was not impaired. A second experiment involved the use of an improved editor and less supportive testing conditions. Though subjects in the immediate condition went through the training problems 1 8% faster (han did those in the delay condition, they were slower on the test problems and made twice as many errors. The results of experiment 3, a partial replication of the first two experiments, indicated a general advantage for delayed feedback in terms of errors, time on task, and the jjercentage of errors that Subjects self-corrected. A protocol analysis suggests that immediate feedback competes for wodcing memory resources, forcing out information necessary for operator compilation. In addition, more delayed feedback appears to foster the development of secondary skills such as error detection and self-correction, skills necessary for successful performance once feedback has been withdrawn (Schmidt, Young, Swinnen, & Shapiro, 1989).