The Reflected Best Self field experiment with adolescent leaders: exploring the psychological resources associated with feedback source and valence

This study provides a preliminary examination of the efficacy of the Reflected Best Self Exercise. We conducted a field quasi-experiment with 108 adolescent leaders assigned to a 2 × 2 design: (1) valence of feedback (i.e., strengths-only versus strengths and improvement-oriented) and (2) source of feedback (i.e., professional (e.g., teachers, coaches, bosses) only versus professional and personal (e.g., friends and family)). By ANOVA, support was found for the hypothesis that feedback from the combination of professional and personal sources is associated with more positive emotional, agentic, and relational resources than feedback from only professional sources. Little support was found for the hypothesis that strengths-based feedback generates more positive emotional, agentic, or relational resources. Limitations, implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

The effects of feedback on the gender differences in the performance in a chronometric mental-rotation test

ABSTRACT

Gender differences favouring males are often found in mental-rotation tests and are usually smaller in chronometric than in psychometric test. The individual feedback in the chronometric test could be an explanation for the comparable performance of males and females. To test this hypothesis, 102 undergraduate students (60 females, 42 males) participated in a chronometric mental-rotation study with or without feedback. A subsample of 41 participants was asked to report their confidence about their performance in the test. In reaction time, males outperformed females and participants in the feedback condition reacted faster than participants without feedback. A significant interaction of gender and condition was found. Only females had an advantage in the feedback condition in reaction time while there was no difference for males. Males reported higher scores of confidence. Feedback seemed to help females especially to react faster. Confidence levels are discussed as reasons for differences between conditions and genders.     

Reliability and Specificity of Individual Differences In Reminiscence

In investigating Eysenck’s (1965) suggestion of the specificity of reminiscence, 50 high school boys were tested on 2 gross motorcoordination tasks—one involving tracking and the other balance. In the practice schedule, which was identical for both tasks, all Ss were given 20 50-sec. trials with a 10-sec. intertrial rest. A 5-min. interpolated rest was given after every fourth trial. The reliability of individual differences in reminiscence for both tasks was found to be extremely low. While Eysenck’s hypothesis was not necessarily weakened, doubt was cast upon the specificity of reminiscence in the usual context of the word.     

Challenge Point: A Framework for Conceptualizing the Effects of Various Practice Conditions in Motor Learning

The authors describe the effects of practice conditions in motor learning (e.g., contextual interference, knowledge of results) within the constraints of 2 experimental variables: skill level and task difficulty. They use a research framework to conceptualize the interaction of those variables on the basis of concepts from information theory and information processing. The fundamental idea is that motor tasks represent different challenges for performers of different abilities. The authors propose that learning is related to the information arising from performance, which should be optimized along functions relating the difficulty of the task to the skill level of the performer. Specific testable hypotheses arising from the framework are also described.     

Effects of Auditory Feedback on Movement Time in a Fitts Task

The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate the role of auditory feedback and its impact on movement time in a standard Fitts task. Feedback was given at the moment of target acquisition. A 2-way analysis of variance found significant differences between feedback groups at all three indexes of difficulty (F(2, 40) = 156.02, p < .001). Results from a mixed-model multivariate analysis of variance for kinematic factors show significant differences in peak velocity and the location of peak velocity when comparing feedback groups. In general, the addition of auditory feedback decreased the task ID by .5.     

Rapid Error Correction During Human Arm Movements

Studies were made of rapid error correction movements in eight subjects performing a visually guided tracking task involving flexion-extension movements about the elbow. Subjects were required to minimize reaction times in this two-choice task. Errors in initial movement direction occurred in about 3% of the trials. Error correction times (time from initiation to reversal of movement in incorrect direction) ranged from 30-150 ms. The first sign of correction of the error movement was a suppression of the electromyographic (EMG) activity in the muscle producing the error movement. This suppression started as early as 20-40 ms after the initiation of the error-related EMG activity and as much as 50 ms before any overt sign of limb movement. The correction of the error movement was also accompanied by an increase in the drive to the muscle which moved the arm in the correct direction. This increased activity always occurred after the initiation of the error movement. It is concluded that the first step in the error correction, suppression of drive to the muscle producing the error movement, cannot be based on information from the moving limb. It is thus suggested that this earliest response to the error movement is based on central monitoring of the commands for movement.     

Terminal Feedback Outperforms Concurrent Visual,Auditory, and Haptic Feedback in Learning a Complex Rowing-Type Task

Augmented feedback, provided by coaches or displays, is a well-established strategy to accelerate motor learning. Frequent terminal feedback and concurrent feedback have been shown to be detrimental for simple motor task learning but supportive for complex motor task learning. However, conclusions on optimal feedback strategies have been mainly drawn from studies on artificial laboratory tasks with visual feedback only. Therefore, the authors compared the effectiveness of learning a complex, 3-dimensional rowing-type task with either concurrent visual, auditory, or haptic feedback to self-controlled terminal visual feedback. Results revealed that terminal visual feedback was most effective because it emphasized the internalization of task-relevant aspects. In contrast, concurrent feedback fostered the correction of task-irrelevant errors, which hindered learning. The concurrent visual and haptic feedback group performed much better during training with the feedback than in nonfeedback trials. Auditory feedback based on sonification of the movement error was not practical for training the 3-dimensional movement for most participants. Concurrent multimodal feedback in combination with terminal feedback may be most effective, especially if the feedback strategy is adapted to individual preferences and skill level.     

Pro- and Antisaccades: Dissociating Stimulus and Response Influences the Online Control of Saccade Trajectories

The authors examined whether the diminished online control of antisaccades is related to a trade-off between movement planning and control or the remapping of target properties to a mirror-symmetrical location (i.e., vector inversion). Pro- and antisaccades were examined in a standard no-delay schedule wherein target onset served as the movement imperative and a delay cuing schedule wherein responses were initiated 2,000 ms following target onset. Importantly, the delay cuing schedule was employed to equate pro- and antisaccade reaction times. Online control was evaluated by indexing the strength of trajectory amendments at normalized increments of movement time. Antisaccades exhibited fewer online corrections than prosaccades, and this result was consistent across cuing schedules. Thus, the diminished online control of antisaccades cannot be tied to a trade-off between movement planning and control. Rather, the authors propose that the intentional nature of dissociating stimulus and response (i.e., vector inversion) engenders a slow mode of cognitive control that is not optimized for fast oculomotor corrections.     

Visual Feedback of Target Position Affects Accuracy of Sequential Movements at Even Spaces

The role of visual feedback during movement is attributed to its accuracy, but findings regarding the utilization of this information are inconsistent. We developed a novel dot-placing task to investigate the role of vision in arm movements. Participants conducted pointing-like movements between two target stimuli at even spaces. In Experiment 1, visual feedback of targets and response positions was manipulated. Although visual loss of target stimuli hindered accuracy of movements, the absence of the position of previously placed dots had little effect. In Experiment 2, the effect of movement time on accuracy was assessed, as the relationship between these has been traditionally understood as a speed/accuracy trade-off. Results revealed that duration of movement did not impact movement accuracy.     

Contingent auditory feedback of arm movement facilitates reaching behavior in infancy

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of contingent auditory feedback on the development of infant reaching. Eleven full-term infants were observed biweekly from the age of 10 weeks to 16 weeks, and their arm kinematics were recorded. Auditory feedback that was contingent on arm kinematics was provided in the form of: (a) the mother's voice; and (b) musical tones. Results showed that providing auditory feedback (mother's voice or musical tones): (i) increased the amplitude of exploratory arm movements before the onset of reaching; and (ii) increased the number of reaches at the onset of reaching. These results show that infants are able to use contingent auditory feedback to explore the relevant possibilities for action that are subsequently shaped into goal-directed movements.