Errorless Condition Research Articles

Effects of making errors in learning a foreign language

ABSTRACT Kornell, Hays, and Bjork ([2009]. Unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance subsequent learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 989–998) showed that incorrect guesses do not necessarily harm and might even improve the retention of information on a subsequent test. We sought to replicate the finding using educationally relevant stimuli. In two experiments, our participants either translated sentences in a foreign language receiving immediate feedback (errorful condition), or copied and studied the correct translation (errorless condition). After this training phase, a final test with the same sentences showed that translating sentences wrongly during training did not lower the accuracy of the errorful as compared to the errorless condition. Overall there was evidence that errorful training produced superior learning of the meaning and grammar of the foreign language sentences. The results support the idea that search processes activate a greater network of related knowledge in the errorful than in the errorless condition.

Elaborative encoding through self-generation enhances outcomes with errorless learning: Findings from the Skypekids memory study

Errorless learning has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of memory impairment in adults and older adults with acquired brain injury. In the same population, use of elaborative encoding through supported self-generation in errorless paradigms has been shown to further enhance memory performance. However, the evidence base relevant to application of both standard and self-generation forms of errorless learning in children is far weaker. We address this limitation in the present study to examine recall performance in children with brain injury (n = 16) who were taught novel age-appropriate science and social science facts through the medium of Skype. All participants were taught these facts under conditions of standard errorless learning, errorless learning with self-generation, and trial-and-error learning after which memory was tested at 5-minute, 30-minute, 1-hour and 24-hour delays. Analysis revealed no main effect of time, with participants retaining most information acquired over the 24-hour testing period, but a significant effect of condition. Notably, self-generation proved more effective than both standard errorless and trial-and-error learning. Further analysis of the data revealed that severity of attentional impairment was less detrimental to recall performance under errorless conditions. This study extends the literature to provide further evidence of the value of errorless learning methods in children with ABI and the first demonstration of the effectiveness of self-generation when delivered via the Internet.

Errorful and errorless learning: The impact of cue–target constraint in learning from errors

The benefits of testing on learning are well described, and attention has recently turned to what happens when errors are elicited during learning: Is testing nonetheless beneficial, or can errors hinder learning? Whilst recent findings have indicated that tests boost learning even if errors are made on every trial, other reports, emphasizing the benefits of errorless learning, have indicated that errors lead to poorer later memory performance. The possibility that this discrepancy is a function of the materials that must be learned-in particular, the relationship between the cues and targets-was addressed here. Cued recall after either a study-only errorless condition or an errorful learning condition was contrasted across cue-target associations, for which the extent to which the target was constrained by the cue was either high or low. Experiment 1 showed that whereas errorful learning led to greater recall for low-constraint stimuli, it led to a significant decrease in recall for high-constraint stimuli. This interaction is thought to reflect the extent to which retrieval is constrained by the cue-target association, as well as by the presence of preexisting semantic associations. The advantage of errorful retrieval for low-constraint stimuli was replicated in Experiment 2, and the interaction with stimulus type was replicated in Experiment 3, even when guesses were randomly designated as being either correct or incorrect. This pattern provides support for inferences derived from reports in which participants made errors on all learning trials, whilst highlighting the impact of material characteristics on the benefits and disadvantages that accrue from errorful learning in episodic memory.

The Benefits of Errorless Learning for Serial Reaction Time Performance in Alzheimer's Disease

Identifying the conditions favoring new procedural skill learning in Alzheimer's disease (AD) could be important for patients' autonomy. It has been suggested that error elimination is beneficial during skill learning, but no study has explored the advantage of this method in sequential learning situations. In this study, we examined the acquisition of a 6-element perceptual-motor sequence by AD patients and healthy older adults (control group). We compared the impact of two preliminary sequence learning conditions (Errorless versus Errorful) on Serial Reaction Time performance at two different points in the learning process. A significant difference in reaction times for the learned sequence and a new sequence was observed in both conditions in healthy older participants; in AD patients, the difference was significant only in the errorless condition. The learning effect was greater in the errorless than the errorful condition in both groups. However, while the errorless advantage was found at two different times in the learning process in the AD group, in the control group this advantage was observed only at the halfway point. These results support the hypothesis that errorless learning allows for faster automation of a procedure than errorful learning in both AD and healthy older subjects.

Errorless learning improves memory performance in children with acquired brain injury: A controlled comparison of standard and self-generation techniques

The principle of errorless learning has proven efficacy in helping adults and older adults with acquired memory impairment learn novel information. However, surprisingly few studies have investigated its efficacy in children. The present study addresses this omission in the literature, investigating the effectiveness of two forms of errorless learning — the established method, in which the examiner provides responses during learning, and a self-generation method, in which learners produce their own responses — each relative to the standard baseline of trial-and-error learning, in young people with acquired brain injury (ABI, n = 15) and non-injured controls (n = 15). Participants learned different word lists in each condition and their memory was tested after distraction and, subsequently, after a 20-minute delay. Not surprisingly, controls performed better than the ABI group. However, while there was no effect of learning condition for controls, in the ABI group memory performance was significantly better under errorless conditions. In contrast to findings in the adult literature, there was no difference in the efficacy of the two errorless methods, suggesting that self-generation was no better than standard examiner-generation. This study extends upon previous research to provide the first demonstration of the effectiveness of errorless methods in a group of young people with ABI.

Benefits and limitations of errorless learning after surviving pediatric brain tumors: A case study

Survivors of childhood brain tumors often acquire complex cognitive difficulties including impairments in attention, processing speed, and different aspects of memory function. These impairments can affect their learning in the real world and in the classroom. However, the efficacy of memory rehabilitation techniques post treatment has not yet been assessed in these patients. We present the case of a 15-year-old boy, C.J., who acquired a profound episodic memory impairment due to a metastatic germ cell tumor and subsequent treatment. The focus of this study was the application of an errorless learning technique to a verbal learning task. We were interested to test whether C.J. would benefit from errorless learning as compared to errorful learning. Results of an experiment and a follow-up study indicated that C.J.'s learning was more efficient under errorless conditions, although access to the information from long-term memory remained cue dependent. Implications for learning with or without the support of episodic memory are discussed, and future directions for memory rehabilitation of brain tumor survivors are outlined.

The Effectiveness of Trial-and-Error and Errorless Learning in Promoting the Transfer of Training

Despite an extensive literature showing successful application of errorless techniques in applied settings there has been some debate about the optimal circumstances surrounding the use of these techniques. The present study examined the hypothesis that trial-and-error learning conditions provide an advantage for performance on a ‘transfer’ task, compared to learning under errorless conditions. Two experiments are reported. In the first, 60 student participants engaged in four acquisition trials under errorless or trial-and-error conditions, consisting of mazes with one correct route and a number of incorrect routes. Both groups completed a fifth ‘transfer’ maze where the correct route contained portions of previous incorrect routes. In the second experiment, the same 60 participants completed a task involving identifying target words from word lists, again either in an errorless or a trial-and-error condition. Both learning conditions completed the same transfer task (anagram word task) and a recognition task. Data from both experiments indicated that during the transfer task, the trial-and-error group performed significantly better than the errorless group when there was a requirement to transfer the skill learned during the acquisition phase to a new related task. Data from the recognition task in experiment two suggested that the poorer performance of the errorless group was due to a reduced awareness of salient aspects of the S- during the acquisition phase.

The advantage of errorless learning for the acquisition of new concepts' labels in alcoholics

Previous findings revealed that the acquisition of new semantic concepts' labels was impaired in uncomplicated alcoholic patients. The use of errorless learning may therefore allow them to improve learning performance. However, the flexibility of the new knowledge and the memory processes involved in errorless learning remain unclear. New concepts' labels acquisition was examined in 15 alcoholic patients and 15 control participants in an errorless learning condition compared with 19 alcoholic patients and 19 control subjects in a trial-and-error learning condition. The flexibility of the new information was evaluated using different photographs from those used in the learning sessions but representing the same concepts. All of the participants carried out an additional explicit memory task and an implicit memory task was also performed by subjects in the errorless learning condition. The alcoholic group in the errorless condition differed significantly from the alcoholic group in the trial-and-error condition but did not differ from the two control groups. There was no significant difference between results in the learning test and the flexibility task. Finally, in the alcoholic group, the naming score in the learning test was correlated with the explicit memory score but not with the implicit memory score. Using errorless learning, alcoholics improved their abilities to learn new concepts' labels. Moreover, new knowledge acquired with errorless learning was flexible. The errorless learning advantage may rely on explicit rather than implicit memory processes in these alcohol-dependent patients presenting only mild to moderate deficits of explicit memory capacities.

Stable implicit motor processes despite aerobic locomotor fatigue

Implicit processes almost certainly preceded explicit processes in our evolutionary history, so they are likely to be more resistant to disruption according to the principles of evolutionary biology [Reber, A. S. (1992). The cognitive unconscious: An evolutionary perspective. Consciousness and Cognition, 1, 93–133.]. Previous work (e.g., [Masters, R. S. W. (1992). Knowledge, (k)nerves and know-how: The role of explicit versus implicit knowledge in the breakdown of a complex motor skill under pressure. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 343–358.]) has shown that implicitly learned motor skills remain stable under psychological pressure and concurrent cognitive demands, and recently [Poolton, J. M., Masters, R. S. W., & Maxwell, J. P. (2007). Passing thoughts on the evolutionary stability of implicit motor behaviour: Performance retention under physiological fatigue. Consciousness and Cognition, 16(2), 456–468.] showed that they also remain stable under conditions of anaerobic fatigue that would have significantly challenged the survival skills of our ancestors. Here we examine the stability of an implicitly learned motor skill under fatigue conditions that primarily tax a different physiological system (the aerobic system), but which have equally strong evolutionary connotations. Participants acquired a throwing task by means of an errorless (implicit) learning method or an errorful (explicit) method. Motor performance in the errorless condition, but not the errorful condition, remained stable following an exhaustive VO2 max. running test. Our findings replicate and extend the work of Poolton et al., providing further support for Reber’s evolutionary distinction between implicit and explicit processes.

Do errors matter? Errorless and errorful learning in anomic picture naming

Errorless training methods significantly improve learning in memory-impaired patients relative to errorful training procedures. However, the validity of this technique for acquiring linguistic information in aphasia has rarely been studied. This study contrasts three different treatment conditions over an 8 week period for rehabilitating picture naming in anomia: (1) errorless learning in which pictures are shown and the experimenter provides the name, (2) errorful learning with feedback in which the patient is required to generate a name but the correct name is then supplied by the experimenter, and (3) errorful learning in which no feedback is given. These conditions are compared to an untreated set of matched words. Both errorless and errorful learning with feedback conditions led to significant improvement at a 2-week and 12–14-week retest (errorful without feedback and untreated words were similar). The results suggest that it does not matter whether anomic patients are allowed to make errors in picture naming or not (unlike in memory impaired individuals). What does matter is that a correct response is given as feedback. The results also question the widely held assumption that it is beneficial for a patient to attempt to retrieve a word, given that our errorless condition involved no retrieval effort and had the greatest benefits.

An electrophysiological study of errorless learning

Errorless learning, i.e. learning under conditions that prevent the generation of false memory candidates, has been shown to lead to enhanced memory performance during retrieval compared to errorful, trial-and-error, learning. These two learning methods were implemented in a word-stem completion format and contrasted in young healthy subjects with stimulus-locked and response-locked event-related brain potentials (ERPs) being recorded during memory retrieval. Retrieval accuracy was enhanced for items studied under errorless conditions. Stimulus-locked ERPs showed a modulation of a right frontal effect that differed in amplitude and topography for items learned under errorful and errorless conditions. This effect is interpreted as reflecting post-retrieval processes. In the response-locked ERPs, a typical error-related negativity (ERN) was observed that was most prominent for false alarm trials in the errorless condition, of medium amplitude for hits and false alarms in the errorful condition, smaller for hits in the errorless condition and virtually absent for items correctly or incorrectly classified as new. We propose that the amplitude modulation of the ERN is related to the activity of an internal monitoring device checking the veridicality of a retrieved memory trace.

An investigation of errorless learning in memory-impaired patients: improving the technique and clarifying theory

In rehabilitating individuals who demonstrate severe memory impairment, errorless learning techniques have proven particularly effective. Prevention of errors during acquisition of information leads to better memory than does learning under errorful conditions. This paper presents results of a study investigating errorless learning in three patient groups: those demonstrating mild, moderate, and severe memory impairments. The first goal of the study was to trial a new version of errorless learning, one encouraging more active participation in learning by patients via the use of elaboration and self-generation. This technique led to significantly better memory performance than seen under standard errorless conditions. This finding highlights the value of encouraging active and meaningful involvement by patients in errorless learning, to build upon the benefits flowing from error prevention. A second goal of the study was to clarify the mechanisms underlying errorless learning. Memory performance under errorless and errorful conditions was compared within and across each group of patients, to facilitate theoretical insight into the memory processes underlying performance. The pattern of results observed was equivocal. The data most strongly supported the hypothesis that the benefits seen under errorless learning reflect the operation of residual explicit memory processes, however a concurrent role for implicit memory processes was not ruled out.

Are the benefits of errorless learning dependent on implicit memory?

The effectiveness of errorless and errorful learning methods was compared in two experiments in which a group of memory-impaired individuals learned lists of single words. In both experiments, error prevention during learning resulted in higher levels of cued recall performance than trial-and-error learning. Experiment 1 showed that the beneficial effects of the errorless learning method extended over a delay of up to 48hr and were also observed in free recall. The hypothesis that the benefits of errorless learning rely upon implicit memory was tested in Experiment 2. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis. Implicit memory was observed following both errorless and errorful learning, but there was no indication that enhanced performance in the errorless condition could be accounted for by implicit memory. There was no correlation between performance on a direct test (cued recall) and performance on an indirect test (fragment completion) for the same materials. Furthermore, the extent of priming was no greater for recalled items than non-recalled items in the cued recall test. It is proposed that the benefits of errorless learning in this paradigm stem from the effects of error prevention on residual explicit memory.

Errorless learning as a treatment for memory impaired schizophrenic patients

The effectiveness of errorless and errorful learning methods was compared in two experiments in which a group of memory-impaired individuals learned lists of single words. In both experiments, error prevention during learning resulted in higher levels of cued recall performance than trial-and-error learning. Experiment 1 showed that the beneficial effects of the errorless learning method extended over a delay of up to 48hr and were also observed in free recall. The hypothesis that the benefits of errorless learning rely upon implicit memory was tested in Experiment 2. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis. Implicit memory was observed following both errorless and errorful learning, but there was no indication that enhanced performance in the errorless condition could be accounted for by implicit memory. There was no correlation between performance on a direct test (cued recall) and performance on an indirect test (fragment completion) for the same materials. Furthermore, the extent of priming was no greater for recalled items than non-recalled items in the cued recall test. It is proposed that the benefits of errorless learning in this paradigm stem from the effects of error prevention on residual explicit memory.

Errorless learning in the rehabilitation of memory impaired people

Abstract We report six experiments comparing errorful and errorless learning in the teaching of new information to neurologically impaired adults with severe memory problems. The first experiment is a group study in which amnesic subjects, young controls, and older controls were required to learn two lists of words under two conditions. One of these required subjects to generate guesses that produced incorrect responses, and the other prevented guessing—permitting only correct responses. Conditions and lists were counterbalanced across subjects. People with amnesia scored significantly higher under the errorless condition. We further explored the principle of errorless learning in five single case studies in which severely memory impaired people were required to learn information analogous to that needed in everyday life. Tasks included learning names of objects and people, learning how to programme an electronic aid, remembering orientation items, and learning new items of general knowledge. In each case...

Errorless Training of a Visual Discrimination in Preschool Children

This experiment sought to determine the feasibility of Terrace’s “errorless” discrimination technique in training children to make a fine color discrimination. Of five Ss (3½ to 5 years), three were trained with traditional discrimination techniques and two were trained utilizing Terrace’s techniques. No child in the traditional group made the discrimination. Both Ss in the errorless condition were successful in making the discrimination and made the transition to the final performance with very few errors.