Effects of varying the presentation of instructions in the Tower of London Task
Efectos de variar la presentación de las instrucciones en la Tarea Torre de Londres
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Instructions and their effects in human subjects under experimental study have been a topic of interest in behavior analysis. Content variations in instructions such as specificity and accuracy have shown systematic effects such as the rapid acquisition of complex behavior in brief periods of time. It has been argued that observational learning is, functionally, an instance of instructional control. Because of this, it is of interest to compare this modality of instructions with written instructions in laboratory settings. The main aim of this study was to assess the effects of varying the modality of instructions in the following forms: 1) written instructions, 2) visual demonstration and 3) visual demonstration with a rule of operation; using the tower of London task. A between-subject design was implemented. Thirty adults and thirty children participated in this study and were selected using non-random sampling. Results showed that, in both children and adults, the group with written instructions had an increment in correct responses during probe tests while the other groups showed a decrement in those phases. On the other hand, verbal reports about performances in the task were in a concrete level and there was no correspondence between the effect of the instructions and subjects’ verbal reports. Conclusions emphasize the need for more experimentation to analyze the nature of the experimental task.
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