Manipulations of Sensory Information: A Test of the Hypothesis of Redundancy of Knowledge of Results

The hypothesis of redundancy in knowledge of results was examined by manipulating the amount and location of sensory information available to participants performing a coincident anticipation timing task. Either the last 8 lights or the last 16 lights of the visual display were visible to 48 participants. Following an acquisition phase, learning was tested over immediate (5-min.) and delayed (24-hr.) retention intervals. The main finding was that performance was better when knowledge of results was present, regardless of the amount of sensory information available; therefore, knowledge of results was not redundant information for learning this task.