Does Praising Performance Relative to Others Help Motor Learning?
Telling people they performed better than average does not improve how well they learn a hidden physical sequence compared to giving no feedback.
Source
Effects of positive social comparative feedback on motor sequence learning and performance expectancies
What they did
Researchers recruited 48 healthy adults to practice a joystick task over two experimental sessions. Participants were assigned to one of three experimental feedback conditions: no performance feedback, raw response time feedback, or response time plus positive social comparative feedback. The task involved moving a cursor to targets on a screen, with some sequences repeating in 8-target sequences to test implicit motor learning.
What they found
All groups successfully achieved implicit learning, but those given response time feedback without social context actually showed slower learning than those with no feedback. The positive social comparative feedback did not lead to overall faster learning or higher self-efficacy compared to receiving no feedback at all, though it did lead to higher peak movement velocities. Ultimately, telling learners they are doing better than average was not superior to simple practice without feedback.
The limits
What it doesn't show
This study cannot determine if these feedback effects apply to explicit learning tasks where individuals consciously try to memorize sequence patterns. Furthermore, because the sample was limited to 48 young, right-handed individuals, the results may not generalize to older adults or individuals recovering from neurological injuries. The research also did not measure whether participants believed the false positive feedback they were given, which could alter how they reacted to it.
Key terms
- OPTIMAL theory
- A motor learning framework suggesting that positive expectancies, autonomy, and an external focus of attention enhance performance and learning.
- Implicit learning
- The acquisition of a skill or sequence of actions without conscious awareness of what has been learned.
- Social comparative feedback
- Information provided to learners indicating how their performance compares to that of their peers.
- Retention testing
- A performance test conducted after a delay period without practice to evaluate long-term learning and memory of a skill.
- Peak velocity
- The maximum speed reached during a movement, which can serve as a behavioral indicator of motivation and task valuation.
- Task-specific self-efficacy
- An individual's personal confidence in their ability to perform a specific task successfully at different levels of difficulty.
Flashcards
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Quiz yourself
According to the OPTIMAL theory of motor learning, how does positive social comparative feedback benefit motor learning?
Common questions
Why did the response-time-only group perform worse than the no-feedback group?
Without any social or comparative context, receiving raw response times likely caused participants to excessively analyze their performance, increasing self-focus and disrupting the natural implicit learning process.
How do we know the participants' sequence learning was truly implicit?
The researchers tested participants' awareness after practice and found that very few could recognize or recall the sequence, confirming they improved without conscious awareness of the pattern.
Why did positive feedback increase movement speed but not overall response time?
Higher peak velocity suggests the positive feedback boosted motivation and task valuation, but it did not improve other elements like hand path accuracy, keeping overall response times comparable to the control group.
Does this mean trainers should stop giving positive social comparison feedback?
Not necessarily, but it suggests that for tasks relying heavily on unconscious motor sequence learning, simple practice without feedback may be just as effective as praise.
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