Differential Effects of Social and Digital Feedback Interventions in the Figural Analogies Learning Test (FALT)

Dynamic testing (DT) aims to overcome a limitation of static assessment by providing learning opportunities as part of the test procedure so as to allow an individual’s latent potential to be evaluated rather than relying on a mere snapshot of their performance. Despite strong theoretical support, DT remains underutilized in research and applied settings. Thus, this study analyzes whether the Figural Analogies Learning Test (FALT), a newly developed short-term learning test (a DT procedure), is suitable for the assessment of latent potential in school-aged children. Mode of delivery for learning opportunities (i.e., feedback) was experimentally manipulated to investigate whether a digital or social modality results in differential effects on learning gains. A further aim was to establish whether—by capturing test takers’ latent potential—the FALT has incremental predictive utility in relation to academic achievement. The study randomly assigned 279 Swiss schoolchildren to one of three conditions: digital FALT, social FALT, or a static analogies task, all based on the same item set. Intervention effectiveness was evaluated using a static retest two weeks later. In both FALT conditions (digital and social), children achieved higher scores at the repeated assessment than in the static control condition. Moreover, socially mediated feedback produced significantly larger score gains than digitalized feedback. The three conditions did not differ in their ability to predict academic achievement and, thus, showed no incremental predictive utility for the FALT. However, an explorative exclusion of children with high grade averages indicated an advantage for the digital FALT relative to its static counterpart. The results provide tentative evidence that while both digitally and socially mediated feedback enhance learning performance, the latter is more effective. We discuss the absence of incremental predictive utility, specifically in the context of self-regulated learning, as well as implications for the design and diagnostic use of learning tests in educational contexts.