EFFECTS OF SELF-PACED POSTINFORMATIVE FEEDBACK INTERVALS AND TASK COMPLEXITY ON CONCEPT IDENTIFICATION (INTERTRIAL, COMPUTER)

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the self-paced postinformative feedback interval (PIFI) and task complexity on concept identification. Eight independent groups of learners served in a factorial design which combined four PIFI durations (self-paced - 15 sec) and two levels of task complexity (2 and 4 irrelevant stimulus dimensions). Instructions and tasks were presented to 64 subjects via microcomputers. The criterion performance of 16 consecutively correct stimulus identifications as well as total number of trials and total time to criterion were recorded by the computer program. Factorial analyses of variance, a priori tests, Newman-Keuls' pairwise comparisons, and one-way analyses of variance were used to statistically determine significant differences among the means of the groups studied. Results of all statistical analyses were considered significant at the .05 level. Results indicated that there was no significant difference in terms of total trials or total time to criterion between the self-paced PIFI condition and the combined data for the three fixed PIFI conditions. For the low complexity task, the 8-second PIFI condition required significantly fewer trials to criterion than self-paced PIFI. For the higher complexity task, the self-paced PIFI condition required significantly less total time to criterion than 15-second fixed PIFI. Results also indicated that self-paced PIFI durations for initial trials were significantly longer than those of final trials for performances at both levels of task complexity. Findings were interpreted as demonstrating a need for absorption time during PIFIs which may not be adequately provided in a totally self-paced environment. Thus, a reduction in the efficiency inherent in the self-paced mode, stemming from the gradual decrease in PIFI durations as problem solution is approached, is experience.