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Social Feedback in the Learning of a Motor Skill
Author(s) -
FOOT HUGH C.,
LEE TERENCE R.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
british journal of social and clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0007-1293
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1970.tb00981.x
Subject(s) - psychology , task (project management) , reinforcement , motor skill , developmental psychology , social psychology , motor learning , social learning , cognitive psychology , pedagogy , management , neuroscience , economics
The motivational effects of the transmission of results between members of a group performing a motor task were studied. Subjects were 15‐year‐old school children. Expt. I compared learning by (1) 18 subjects in three‐man groups, whose feedback consisted of their own and each other's results, with learning by (2) 18 similarly grouped subjects, who received only their own results. The former subjects performed significantly better, and with less variability, than the latter. Expt. II, of similar design, varied the information received by subjects concerning whether or not their own results were displayed to the other group members. Findings pointed to the operation of two processes: (1) reinforcement through evaluation of own performance with social norms, which significantly increased the rate of learning; (2) motivation through an audience effect which increased the general level of performance. The evaluation process was shown to operate only after the first feedback of others' results, while the audience effect operated immediately. The findings are discussed in relation to other evidence from social comparison and audience studies.