Brief Experimental Analysis of Combining Stimulus Change with Consequences to Improve Oral Reading Fluency and Accuracy

Abstract

The purpose of this brief experimental analysis was to examine the effect of changes in visual stimuli, contingent reinforcement, and/or performance feedback on oral reading fluency skills of seven students at-risk of reading failure in second and third grade. Specifically, the current study examined how font size, contingent reinforcement, performance feedback, and combination of font size, contingent reinforcement, and performance feedback affect readability and ultimately, students’ reading fluency performance. For six participants, adding the element of performance feedback or adding the elements of both performance feedback and contingent reinforcement increased their words correct per minute (WCPM). For five participants, adding the element of contingent reinforcement to either the standard size print or enlarged print condition increased their WCPM. The enlarged print size alone condition only increased the WCPM for two participants; however, when enlarged print was combined with performance feedback or both performance feedback and contingent reinforcement, six participants demonstrated improved WCPM compared to the standard size print condition. These results suggest that combining stimulus change with consequences may improve oral reading fluency skills of students at-risk of reading failure.