An Evaluation of an Instructional and Motivational Treatment Package on Writing Revisions

Abstract

Learning to revise one’s writing is a critical part of learning how to write. However, critical feedback and demands to make revisions can make writing aversive for some students, particularly students with poor writing skills. Allowing students to escape further writing tasks contingent on making revisions to written drafts (differential negative reinforcement of appropriate behavior, DNRA) may increase revisions in students’ writing samples. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of adding DNRA to an instructional package on the writing revisions of six high school students. The results indicate that adding DNRA to the instructional package increased attempted revisions, correct revisions, and unique revisions relative to a baseline condition that included only the instructional package. The results are discussed in terms of how reinforcement contingencies appear to interact with antecedent instructional strategies to affect students’ progress in revising their written compositions.