Exercising choice over feedback schedules during practice is not advantageous for motor learning.

Area of Science:

• Motor Learning
• Cognitive Psychology
• Skill Acquisition

Background:

• Self-controlled practice, where learners choose aspects of training, is theorized to enhance motor learning.
• Explanations include enhanced autonomy and motivation (OPTIMAL theory) or improved strategy use (information-processing).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the self-controlled learning advantage in motor skill acquisition.
• To differentiate between motivational and informational explanations for choice effects.
• To examine the impact of feedback type on motor learning and perceptions.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted with 228 participants learning a novel motor task with spatial and timing goals.
• Participants were assigned to either choice or yoked groups.
• Error, graded, or binary feedback was provided to disentangle theoretical explanations.

Main Results:

• No evidence supported a self-controlled learning advantage; choice did not improve autonomy, motivation, or error estimation.
• Error and graded feedback enhanced skill acquisition and learning.
• Binary feedback did not improve performance over pre-test levels.

Conclusions:

• The findings challenge both OPTIMAL theory and information-processing perspectives on self-controlled motor learning.
• Self-controlled practice conditions appear ineffective for enhancing motor performance and learning.
• Feedback type significantly impacts motor learning, with potential dissociation between motivational and informational roles.