Learning
Does Praising Performance Relative to Others Help Motor Learning?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Telling people they performed better than average does not improve how well they learn a hidden physical sequence compared to giving no feedback.
Key findings
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.
Methodology
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.
Limitations
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.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
Not yet placed on a claim. This paper has study layers, but no concept page yet cites it as support, challenge, or qualifier.
Related papers in this topic
Same topic cluster — not a recommendation engine.
- Do we form habits from repetition or just our last action?
- Do food cues trigger actions more in obese than healthy-weight people?
- How do learning progress and novelty drive human curiosity?
- How does stress affect how we learn about safety and danger?
- Does childhood stress make us more prone to rigid habits?