Learning versus performance: an integrative review.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Motor Learning

Background:

• Instructional goals focus on fostering lasting changes in understanding and skills.
• Observed performance during training is often an inaccurate indicator of true learning.
• The distinction between learning and performance has a long history in research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review literature supporting the learning-performance distinction.
• To examine metacognitive research on performance interpretation.
• To underscore the importance of differentiating learning from performance.

Main Methods:

• Literature review in motor and verbal learning domains.
• Analysis of metacognition studies.
• Examination of research demonstrating divergent effects on learning and performance.

Main Results:

• Learning can occur without observable performance changes.
• Performance improvements do not always equate to significant learning.
• Metacognitive biases can lead to misinterpreting performance as learning.

Conclusions:

• The distinction between learning and performance is crucial for effective instruction.
• Understanding this difference has significant theoretical and practical implications.
• Accurate assessment of learning requires methods beyond immediate performance measures.