Feedback for Skill Acquisition: Preliminaries to a Theory of Feedback.
Abstract
In training for skills, feedback about skill proficiency termed knowledge of results (KR) in the laboratory is critical to efficient learning. But, while various manipulations of KR in acquisitions can provide immediate benefits for performance, these may disappear in retention tests. In several paradigms, we show that (compared to feedback after each trial) making feedback less useful by giving it less frequently, or by summarizing or averaging it after several trials, degrades performance in acquisition, but produces superior learning as measured on retention or transfer tests. Preliminaries to a guidance theory are proposed on retention or transfer tests and are proposed to account for these effects. In this view, frequent feedback has various negative effects that degrade retention, such as (a) the encouragement of maladaptive short term corrections that disrupt response stability, and (b) the blockage of information processing activities that lead to the learning of error detection capabilities. Practical implications of these concepts for Army training procedures are discussed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA328695
Entities
People
- Richard A. Schmidt
Organizations
- University of California, Los Angeles