FORTY-EIGHT MALE ADOLESCENTS CONFINED IN THE RESIDENTIAL CORRECTIONAL FACILITY OF A NEW ENGLAND STATE WERE ASSIGNED RANDOMLY TO THE FOLLOWING TREATMENT CONDITIONS: DELAYED FEEDBACK; DELAYED FEEDBACK WITH LEVEL OF ASPIRATION (LOA) STATEMENT; IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK; IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK WITH LOA; NO FEEDBACK; AND NO FEEDBACK WITH LOA. THE LEARNING TASK PERFORMED BY THE SUBJECTS INVOLVED MATCHING ENGLISH WORDS WITH JAPANESE SYMBOLS. SUBJECTS WHO VERBALIZED THEIR EXPECTATIONS PERFORMED SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN SUBJECTS WHO DID NOT. THE ONLY GROUPS THAT SIGNIFICANTLY OUTPERFORMED THE NO-FEEDBACK GROUP WERE THE DELAYED-FEEDBACK LOA GROUP AND THE NO-FEEDBACK LOA GROUP. STRESS ENGENDERED BY FEEDBACK MAY ACCOUNT FOR IMPROVED PERFORMANCE UNDER LOA CONDITIONS WHEN FEEDBACK IS DELAYED OR OMITTED. FURTHER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS ARE DISCUSSED. SUPPORTING DATA ARE INCLUDED. (LKM)