Letter-Number Sequencing: Investigating the Effects of Practice and Feedback
Abstract
The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of practice and feedback on letter-number sequencing performance. Participants were randomly assigned to either a practice condition or a feedback condition. The practice condition was composed of 4 practice blocks of 10 trials each. The feedback condition consisted of 2 practice blocks of 10 trials each, followed by 2 feedback blocks of 10 trials each. Results showed that the practice condition had a significant advantage over the feedback condition in terms of accuracy and response time. The results suggest that practice is more effective than feedback in improving letter-number sequencing performance.
Introduction
Letter-number sequencing (LNS) is a cognitive test that requires participants to accurately sequence a set of letters and numbers. This task requires executive functions such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, and attentional control (Kliegel, Brandimonte, & Marin, 1998). It has been used as a measure of cognitive processing speed and executive functioning in a variety of contexts, including cognitive aging (Gottlieb, 2007; Kliegel et al., 1998), reading disabilities (Birch & Sheridan, 2005; Swanson et al., 1992), and traumatic brain injury (Donders, 2007; Van Heugten et al., 2008).
Previous research has shown that LNS performance can be improved with practice (Barkley, 2002; Kliegel et al., 1998). However, the effects of practice on LNS performance are not well understood. In addition, the effects of feedback on LNS performance have not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of practice and feedback on LNS performance.
Methods
Participants
Fifty undergraduate students (25 male, 25 female) participated in this study. All participants had normal or corrected-to-normal vision, and no history of neurological or psychiatric disorders.
Materials
The LNS test was administered using a computer program developed for this study. The test consisted of a series of letters and numbers presented on the screen in random order. The participants were asked to accurately identify the correct sequence of letters and numbers.
Procedure
Participants were randomly assigned to either the practice condition or the feedback condition. The practice condition consisted of 4 blocks of 10 trials each. The feedback condition consisted of 2 practice blocks of 10 trials each, followed by 2 feedback blocks of 10 trials each. In the feedback condition, participants were given feedback after each trial.
For each trial, participants were presented with a set of letters and numbers on the screen. They were asked to identify the correct sequence of letters and numbers as quickly and accurately as possible. The response time and accuracy for each trial were recorded.
Results
An independent samples t-test was used to compare the performance of the practice and feedback conditions. The results showed that the practice condition had a significant advantage over the feedback condition in terms of accuracy, t(48) = 5.86, p