ABSTRACT
Learning new motor skills is a critical aspect of life, and there is little disagreement that feedback and motivation play important roles in this process. Numerous experiments from behavioral research suggest that motivational levels can be increased and sustained, but also decreased, by distinct factors, including the type, meaning, and content of feedback. Distinct motivational pathways explain why allowing learners choice over feedback may benefit motor learning. Motor performance and learning research has, in fact, demonstrated that feedback after good trials results in increased intrinsic motivation, positive affect, self-confidence, and self-efficacy. The provision of positive feedback suggesting a learnable view of skill likely affects motor learning via similar pathways, potentially protecting learners against setbacks when exposed to errors or mistakes, a situation frequently encountered in motor skill learning contexts. Future research on the motivational impact of feedback in motor learning can not only generalize the findings to different settings and populations, but also follow many directions and levels of analysis.
