Feedback variables in strategy acquisition: Some implications for behavior therapy

Abstract

Using a laboratory analog situation, an experiment was conducted which required subjects to: (1) identify positive instances of a concept; (2) respond to positive instances in a strategic rather than stereotyped manner; and (3) relate their strategic responses to a conceptual parameter of the identified concept. Independent variables were: (1) the locus (pattern) of feedback for correct and/or incorrect responding; and (2) whether the feedback given was of neutral or aversive intensity. The major dependent variable was the number of trials to strategy acquisition. The results revealed an interactive effect between locus and intensity of feedback: Specifically, aversive and neutral levels of feedback yield different patterns of acquisition rate across locus of feedback conditions. A discussion of some implications for behavior therapy follows, with the suggestion that behavior therapists attend to the patient's strategic style of coping with conceptually interpreted events in the environment and that the informational properties of aversive events be carefully considered.