Abstract

This study examined the relative effectiveness of two different frequencies of feedback on work productivity. Under one condition feedback was delivered after every experimental session had been completed and under the other condition feedback was delivered after every fourth session had been completed. In addition, the effectiveness was compared under two different pay systems; hourly and incentive pay systems. Therefore, this study included four different experimental conditions; (1) every session/hourly pay, (2) every session/incentive pay, (3) every fourth session/hourly pay, (4) every fourth session/incentive pay conditions. Forty-two college subjects were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. Each subject participated in 24 thirty minute sessions. Subjects performed the simulated work task which consisted of computer related activities such as dragging, clicking, and typing. The dependent variable was the number of correctly completed work task. Two-way ANCOV A was adopted to analyze the data using the pretest score as a covariate. The results indicated that the subjects assigned to every session feedback condition produced significantly more than the subjects assigned to every fourth session feedback condition. It was also found that the interaction effect between two independent variables (i.e., feedback frequencies and pay systems) existed. More .specifically, under the incentive pay system the two different frequencies of feedback produced significant difference in performance, but under the hourly pay system they did not. The implications and limitations of these findings were discussed and directions of future research were proposed.