Does feedback really function as an SD?

I don’t think so, and I think Dr. Malott might agree. It’s obvious from reading his book that he and his team are always thinking more and more deeply about various issues. And my guess is that deeper thought about this issue will result in the view that rather than feedback functioning as an S^D, it functions more like a prompt.

Here’s why. In order for there to be an S^D, there also has to be an S^Δ, which is a stimulus in the presence of which the target behavior is not reinforced/punished. So think about the football scenario in Ch. 23. If feedback delivered before a play functions as an S^D, in the presence of which the target behavior will be reinforced, then the corresponding S^Δ would be no feedback delivered before the play. But if no feedback were delivered before the play, yet the target behavior occurred anyway (that is, the play was executed correctly), it would still be reinforced. This means that the “no feedback” condition is not an S^Δ. And this further means that feedback is not an S^D.

Now remember the definition of prompt - a supplemental stimulus that raises the probability of a correct response. Seems to fit, right?