Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Control of Eating Behavior Using a Novel Feedback System
Published on: May 8, 2018
Feedback, the various tasks of the doctor, and the feedforward alternative
Avraham N Kluger1, Dina Van Dijk
1Department of Management, School of Business Administration, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel. avik@savion.huji.ac.il
Objectives:
This study aims to alert users of feedback to its dangers, explain some of its complexities and offer the feedforward alternative.
Methods:
We review the damage that feedback may cause to both motivation and performance. We provide an initial solution to the puzzle of the feedback sign (positive versus negative) using the concepts of promotion focus and prevention focus. We discuss additional open questions pertaining to feedback sign and consider implications for health care systems.
Results:
Feedback that threatens the self is likely to debilitate recipients and, on average, positive and negative feedback are similar in their effects on performance. Positive feedback contributes to motivation and performance under promotion focus, but the same is true for negative feedback under prevention focus. We offer an alternative to feedback--the feedforward interview--and describe a brief protocol and suggestions on how it might be used in medical education.
Conclusions:
Feedback is a double-edged sword; its effective application includes careful consideration of regulatory focus and of threats to the self. Feedforward may be a good substitute for feedback in many settings.
Related Concept Videos
Effects of feedback
Feedback significantly modifies the gain of a control system. The gain of a system without feedback is altered by a factor of one plus GH, where G represents...
Negative and Positive Feedback
Feedback control systems
Linear feedback systems are theoretical models that simplify analysis and design. These systems operate under the principle that their output is directly proportional to their input within certain ranges. For instance, an amplifier in a control system behaves linearly as long as the input signal remains within a specific range. However, most physical systems exhibit inherent nonlinearity...
Techniques of Therapeutic Communication II: Focusing, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
This therapeutic technique can also be used when a patient brings up pertinent information during a health-related conversation. The...
Feedback Loops
Positive and Negative Feedback Loops

