Self-Controlled Feedback for a Complex Motor Task

Roland Sigrist, Georg Rauter, Robert Riener and Peter Wolf

Sensory Motor Systems Lab, ETH Zurich & Spinal Cord Injury Center, University Hospital Balgrist, Zurich, Switzerland
E-mail: roland.sigrist@mavt.ethz.ch, georg.rauter@mavt.ethz.ch, peter.wolf@mavt.ethz.ch, robert.riener@mavt.ethz.ch

Abstract

Self-controlled augmented feedback enhances learning of simple motor tasks. Thereby, learners tend to request feedback after trials that were rated as good by themselves. Feedback after good trials promotes positive reinforcement, which enhances motor learning. The goal of this study was to investigate when naïve learners request terminal visual feedback in a complex motor task, as conclusions drawn on simple tasks can hardly be transferred to complex tasks. Indeed, seven of nine learners stated to have intended to request feedback predominantly after good trials, but in contrast to their intention, kinematic analysis showed that feedback was rather requested randomly (23% after good, 44% after intermediate, 33% after bad trials). Moreover, requesting feedback after good trials did not correlate with learning success. It seems that self-estimation of performance in complex tasks is challenging. As a consequence, learners might have focused on certain movement aspects rather than on the overall movement. Further studies should assess the current focus of the learner in detail to gain more insight in self-estimation capabilities during complex motor task learning.