Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 22, 2025
08:05
Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
Published on: June 30, 2020
7.7K
Post-error slowing: Large scale study in an online learning environment for practising mathematics and language.
Susanne M M de Mooij1, Iroise Dumontheil1,2, Natasha Z Kirkham1
1Department of Psychological Sciences, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK.
Developmental Science
|August 28, 2021
Summary
Children’s adaptive behavior in online learning shows post-error slowing (PES). Greater PES correlates with better accuracy and varies by task difficulty and age, highlighting its role in cognitive control development.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Educational technology
- Developmental neuroscience
Background:
- Adaptive behavior and cognitive control are essential for learning.
- Post-error slowing (PES) is a key indicator of error monitoring and adjustment.
- Understanding error processing in children is critical for educational development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate post-error slowing (PES) in an online adaptive learning environment for children.
- To examine factors influencing PES, including task characteristics and individual differences.
- To explore developmental trajectories of error processing in primary school students.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 8 million response patterns from 150,000 users (ages 5–13) across 23 learning activities.
- Statistical examination of PES in relation to accuracy, task parameters, and individual student variables.
- Longitudinal assessment of PES changes across a 6-month period.
Main Results:
- Post-error slowing (PES) was observed across most learning activities, with higher PES linked to improved post-error accuracy.
- PES was influenced by task difficulty, time pressure, error characteristics, and subject matter (math vs. language).
- Individual factors like chosen difficulty and skill level correlated with PES magnitude, alongside non-linear developmental trends in PES from ages 6 to 13.
Conclusions:
- Post-error slowing (PES) is a significant indicator of adaptive behavior in primary school students within educational settings.
- PES is modulated by task demands and individual differences, reflecting sophisticated cognitive control mechanisms.
- Error processing abilities, as measured by PES, exhibit distinct developmental patterns during childhood and early adolescence.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:37Social Loafing
37.1K
Another way in which a group presence can affect performance is social loafing—the exertion of less effort by a person working together with a group. Social loafing occurs when our individual performance cannot be evaluated separately from the group. Thus, group performance declines on easy tasks (Karau & Williams, 1993). Essentially individual group members loaf and let other group members pick up the slack. Because each individual’s efforts cannot be evaluated,...
37.1K
01:14Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness
2.0K
Avoidance learning and learned helplessness are critical concepts in understanding behavioral responses to negative stimuli.
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...
2.0K
01:21Cognitive Learning
718
Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
718