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Updated: Jul 3, 2026
05:43
Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback
Published on: May 23, 2019
Specificity of practice: interaction between concurrent sensory information and terminal feedback
Yannick Blandin1, Lucette Toussaint, Charles H Shea
1Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition et l'Apprentissage (UMR 6234), University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France. Yannick.Blandin@mshs.univ-poitiers.fr
Summary
Reducing terminal feedback (knowledge of results) during motor skill learning increases reliance on concurrent visual information. This heightened dependency on visual cues can negatively impact performance when vision is removed, especially with more practice.
Area of Science:
- Motor Learning
- Motor Control
- Human Movement Science
Background:
- Concurrent feedback (e.g., vision) and terminal feedback (e.g., knowledge of results) are crucial for motor skill acquisition.
- The specificity of practice and guidance hypothesis offer frameworks for understanding feedback's role in learning.
- Understanding how different feedback types interact is essential for optimizing motor skill development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interaction between concurrent visual feedback and terminal knowledge of results (KR) frequency during motor learning.
- To examine how practice amount influences the processing of sensory information and reliance on visual feedback.
- To determine the effects of reducing feedback on motor performance and transfer.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted involving participants reproducing movement patterns.
- Experiment 1 manipulated visual feedback availability and knowledge of results (KR) frequency (100% vs. 33%).
- Experiment 2 varied practice trials and KR frequency, assessing transfer to a no-vision, no-KR condition.
Main Results:
- Conditions with reduced KR (33%) showed a greater performance decrement when visual information was withdrawn compared to 100% KR conditions.
- The detrimental effect of removing visual feedback intensified with increased practice.
- Participants in reduced KR conditions demonstrated a stronger dependency on visual information.
Conclusions:
- Reducing terminal feedback (KR) encourages deeper processing of concurrent visual information.
- This enhanced processing of visual cues leads to a greater reliance on them for performance.
- Learners may become overly dependent on visual information when terminal feedback is limited, impacting adaptability.
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