The Role of Accuracy and Type of Evaluation in Feedback Delivery
RACHAEL E. TILKA, Jessica M. Rocheleau, & Douglas A. Johnson
Western Michigan University
May 25th, 2015
Association for Behavior Analysis International 41st Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX
Correspondence: rachael.e.tilka@wmich.edu
Slide 1RACHAEL E. TILKA, JESSICA M. ROCHELEAU,& DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON

Slide 2



Slide 3

http://www.johnsonresearchlab.com/

Performance feedback, both inisolation and in combination withother intervention components,
has long remained one of the mostcommonly studied andimplemented variablesIt is a popular intervention usedboth in the organizational behavior
management literature and inother fields of study

Narrow focus in researchquestions:o How feedback impactsbehavior
o The seeking of feedbackThe Role of Accuracy and Type of Evaluation in Feedback Delivery
RACHAEL E. TILKA, Jessica M. Rocheleau, & Douglas A. Johnson
Western Michigan University
May 25th, 2015
Association for Behavior Analysis International 41st Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX
Correspondence: rachael.e.tilka@wmich.edu

Slide 4Slide 5Proposed important characteristicsof feedback:o Evaluation (supportive or
critical statements)o Individualizedo Based on actualperformanceo Frequent monitoring andprovision of feedbackFeedback has a variety of effects
possibly due to its many different
functionsFeedback has many different
forms and functions bundled within
a single broad term
Example: Praise can function as areinforcer while constructive
criticism can function as apunisher. One can see how this
could lead to entirely different
behaviors and therefore different
results• Evaluation (supportive or critical)• Individualized• Based on actual performance• Frequent monitoring andprovision of feedback

Slide 6

http://www.johnsonresearchlab.com/Feedback can be implemented ina variety of different ways
Due to this lack of precision, theeffects of this broad intervention
are not uniform and this is where
the gap exists in the current
literature
Honing in on the specific elements
for effective feedback would help
to fill the current gap in theliterature

The Role of Accuracy and Type of Evaluation in Feedback Delivery
RACHAEL E. TILKA, Jessica M. Rocheleau, & Douglas A. Johnson
Western Michigan University
May 25th, 2015Association for Behavior Analysis International 41st Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX
Correspondence: rachael.e.tilka@wmich.edu
Slide 7



Breadth of the term can lead toconfusion:o Why sometimes effective?
o Why sometimes
ineffective?

Slide 8



Cooking analogy: Feedback, likemany interventions can be thoughtof as a recipe. Much like changing
one simple ingredient can lead toan entirely different tasting dish,changing one piece of anintervention can lead to completelydifferent results. Accuracy of thefeedback, frequency of provision,
whether it is individualized, etc.
can all be thought of ingredients inour recipe for feedback

Slide 9

Purpose of present study:
To explore the effects of(a) delivering contingent or
noncontingent feedback that is(b) supportive or critical on thenumber of checks completed
correctly by college students
during a work simulation task.



http://www.johnsonresearchlab.com/

The Role of Accuracy and Type of Evaluation in Feedback Delivery
RACHAEL E. TILKA, Jessica M. Rocheleau, & Douglas A. Johnson
Western Michigan University
May 25th, 2015
Association for Behavior Analysis International 41st Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX
Correspondence: rachael.e.tilka@wmich.edu
Slide 10

Participants and Setting• 118 undergraduate
students• A computerized
data entry task

Supportive

Mode of feedback delivery
Contingent
Independent

Slide 12Supportive

Mode of feedback delivery
Contingent
Independent

CriticalCategory of evaluative feedback

118 undergraduate students
Experimental Tasko A computerized data entry
task involving the entry of
dollar amounts thatappeared on simulatedbank checks
o At the end of the task thenumber of checks correctly
entered was displayed

1. Mode of feedback deliverya. Contingent deliveryb. Independent delivery
2. Category of evaluative feedbacka. Supportive
b. Critical

CriticalCategory of evaluative feedback

Slide 11

http://www.johnsonresearchlab.com/

Participants were randomly
assigned to one of four
experimental conditions:o Contingent and Supportive
feedbacko Contingent and Criticalfeedback,o Independent andSupportive feedback,o Independent and Criticalfeedback

The Role of Accuracy and Type of Evaluation in Feedback Delivery
RACHAEL E. TILKA, Jessica M. Rocheleau, & Douglas A. Johnson
Western Michigan University
May 25th, 2015
Association for Behavior Analysis International 41st Annual Convention, San Antonio, TXCorrespondence: rachael.e.tilka@wmich.edu

Slide 13
• If improvement from previous best:• Experimenter read one of seven supportive statements
at the beginning of the experimental session• If decline or no change from previous best:• No evaluative statements at the beginning of theexperimental session were read

Slide 14
• If decline as compared to previous best:• Experimenter read one of seven critical statements at thebeginning of the experimental session• If improvement or no change from previous best:• No evaluative statements at the beginning of theexperimental session were read

http://www.johnsonresearchlab.com/

If improvement from previous best:o Experimenter read one ofseven supportivestatements at thebeginning of theexperimental session
If decline or no change fromprevious best:o No evaluative statements
at the beginning of theexperimental session wereread
Example supportive statement:"Regarding your performance
during last session, that was animpressive improvement. Keep up
the great work!"
If decline as compared to previous
best:o Experimenter read one ofseven critical statements atthe beginning of theexperimental session
If improvement or no change fromprevious best:o No evaluative statements
at the beginning of theexperimental session werereadExample critical statement:“Regarding your performance
during last session, that wasn’t animpressive performance. Let’s see
if you could improve today

The Role of Accuracy and Type of Evaluation in Feedback Delivery
RACHAEL E. TILKA, Jessica M. Rocheleau, & Douglas A. Johnson
Western Michigan University
May 25th, 2015
Association for Behavior Analysis International 41st Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX
Correspondence: rachael.e.tilka@wmich.edu
Slide 15Independent and supportive
feedbacko Regardless of previous
performance, read one ofseven supportive
statements at thebeginning of experimentalsession

Independent and critical feedbacko Regardless of previous
performance, read one ofseven critical statements atthe beginning of theexperimental session• Regardless of previous performance, read one ofseven supportive statements at the beginning ofexperimental session

Slide 16

• Regardless of previous performance, read one ofseven critical statements at the beginning of theexperimental session

Slide 17950

Mean Performance

900850Contingent andsupportive
Contingent andcriticalIndependent andsupportive
Independent andcritical

800

750

700

650600123456

Experimental Sessions

http://www.johnsonresearchlab.com/

7

The Role of Accuracy and Type of Evaluation in Feedback Delivery
RACHAEL E. TILKA, Jessica M. Rocheleau, & Douglas A. Johnson
Western Michigan University
May 25th, 2015
Association for Behavior Analysis International 41st Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX
Correspondence: rachael.e.tilka@wmich.edu
Slide 18



The results demonstrate a greater
gain in performance for the twocontingent feedback conditions ascompared with the two
independent feedback conditions.

No differences in productivity
found in regard to evaluation
categories
o Supportiveo Critical
However, other possible side
effects should also be consideredo Issues related to job
satisfaction, turnover, etc.

The results demonstrate a greater
gain in performance for the twocontingent feedback conditions ascompared with the two independent
feedback conditions (p = 0.025)

Slide 19



Slide 20

http://www.johnsonresearchlab.com/

Across both the supportive andcritical conditions, independent
feedback proved to be lesseffective at producing gains inperformance than contingent
feedbackThe present study extends that
previous research by showing that
although evaluative feedback may
be important, ensuring that itcoincides with actual performance
may be just as critical
Accuracy is an important
ingredient in our recipe for
effective feedbackThe Role of Accuracy and Type of Evaluation in Feedback Delivery
RACHAEL E. TILKA, Jessica M. Rocheleau, & Douglas A. Johnson
Western Michigan University
May 25th, 2015
Association for Behavior Analysis International 41st Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX
Correspondence: rachael.e.tilka@wmich.edu
Slide 21

• Practical implications:• Primary message: Supervisors need to take the required steps
to ensure that feedback is closely tied to actual performance• This strategy is likely to reap even greater improvements inperformance than what could be expected when evaluations ofperformance are blindly delivered

Slide 22

rachael.e.tilka@wmich.edu

www.johnsonresearchlab.com

http://www.johnsonresearchlab.com/

Practical implications:o Primary message:
Supervisors need to takethe required steps toensure that feedback isclosely tied to actual
performanceo This strategy is likely toreap even greater
improvements inperformance than what
could be expected whenevaluations of performancethat are blindly delivered