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Effects of rate building on fluent performance: A review and commentary

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Abstract

The use of rate-building procedures to encourage the production of high response rates and to develop fluency has been increasingly justified by research on precision teaching and automaticity. Rate-building procedures often ensure both speed and accuracy, and claims have been made that such procedures result in greater retention, persistence, and generalization of trained skills, as well as preference by students. Given the potential importance of these claims for behavior analysts and educators alike, this review assesses the validity, generality, and implications of research on rate building. The review revealed sparse empirical evidence that retention, persistence, and generalization of skills result from the use of rate-building procedures when the effects of practice and reinforcement rate are controlled. Given the results of this review, the implications are discussed in the context of behavior-analytic research (e.g., behavioral momentum), and further research is recommended.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, P.O. Box 6040, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26506-6040, USA

    Philip N. Chase & Elizabethann M. O’Shields

  2. 2601 Gabriel, P.O. Box 738, Parsons, Kansas, 67357, USA

    Shannon S. Doughty

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  1. Shannon S. Doughty
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  2. Philip N. Chase
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  3. Elizabethann M. O’Shields
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Correspondence to Shannon S. Doughty or Philip N. Chase.

Additional information

This article is based on a symposium presented at the annual convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Toronto, Ontario, 2002. Shannon Doughty is now at the Parsons State Hospital and Training Center, Parsons, Kansas.

We thank Adam Doughty for his feedback, particularly on the discussion of response strength. We also thank Cynthia Anderson, Christine Kim, and four anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Doughty, S.S., Chase, P.N. & O’Shields, E.M. Effects of rate building on fluent performance: A review and commentary. BEHAV ANALYST 27, 7–23 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392086

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