Toward a cohesive psychological science of effective feedback

Abstract

Empirical research on effective assessment feedback often falls short in demonstrating not just what works, but how and why. In this introduction to the special issue, ‘Psychological Perspectives on the Effects and Effectiveness of Assessment Feedback,’ we first synthesize the recommendations from review papers on the topic of feedback published since 2010. In multiple respects this synthesis points to a clear wish among feedback researchers: for feedback research to become more scientific. Here we endorse that view, and propose a framework of research questions that a psychological science of feedback might seek to answer. Yet we—and the authors of the diverse papers in this special issue—also illustrate a wealth of scientific research and methods, and rigorous psychological theory, that already exist to inform understanding of effective feedback. One barrier to scientific progress is that this research and theory is heavily fragmented across disciplinary ‘silos’. The papers in this special issue, which represent disparate traditions of psychological research, provide complementary insights into the problems that rigorous feedback research must surmount. We argue that a cohesive psychological science of feedback requires better dialogue between the diverse subfields, and greater use of psychological methods, measures, and theories for informing evidence-based practice.