The effects of feedback on motivation were investigated with a 3 x 3 factorial design. Adult subjects (72 male college students) read prose sentences and completed cloze test items. Feedback on each item was either immediate, delayed, or omitted. A cloze retention test over the sentences was given either immediately, delayed, or was omitted. To assess motivation, the subjects were given a continuation of the original passage which they read for as long as they wished. The time spent reading was recorded as a measure of perseverance and motivation. The results indicated that (1) delayed feedback produced significantly more learning on the original task than did immediate feedback, (2) immediate feedback produced significantly more perseverance on the continuation passage than did delayed feedback, and (3) perseverance on the continuation passage was positively correlated (.46) with scores on a comprehension test over the continuation passage. The results are explained in terms of differential affective responses acquired to the reading task under different feedback conditions. Tables, references, and appendixes are included. (Author/WB)