Several studies have provided evidence for the importance of motivation in motor learning. The present study investigates whether providing positive feedback as statements praising good performance would benefit children’s motor learning when compared to a no-praise condition. Thirty 10-year-old children divided into two groups—positive feedback (PF) and control—learned to ride a pedalo over a seven-meter distance in the shortest time possible. Participants performed 20 practice trials and received feedback on their movement time following each trial. However, only the PF group received feedback acknowledging good performance after each trial block. After 24 hours, both groups performed learning tests without any feedback. Questionnaires (Intrinsic Motivation Inventory) were applied to measure participants’ motivational levels. The results show substantial improvements in performance during practice and high levels of intrinsic motivation, sustained across days, in both groups. Differences between groups in motivation, performance, and learning were not found. These results demonstrate that riding a pedalo in the shortest time possible constitutes an intrinsically motivating task in children, whose learning is not altered by the provision of positive feedback statements acknowledging good performance, possibly by a motivational ceiling effect. The findings indicate that task-inherent motivational characteristics can moderate positive feedback learning effects in children. Future studies could measure other motivational constructs, such as learner’s persistence in practicing the task, or could include post-failure measures that may reveal differences in children’s capacity to cope with errors. Differences between groups would demonstrate potential benefits of providing positive feedback praising performance in children that were not captured in the present experiment, even on the learning of inherently motivating tasks.

中文翻译：

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表扬良好表现的正面反馈不会改变 10 岁儿童对内在激励任务的学习

一些研究为动机在运动学习中的重要性提供了证据。本研究调查与不表扬的情况相比，提供积极反馈作为表扬良好表现的陈述是否会有益于儿童的运动学习。30 名 10 岁的儿童被分成两组——正反馈 (PF) 组和控制组——学习在尽可能短的时间内骑脚踏车超过 7 米的距离。参与者进行了 20 次练习试验，并在每次试验后收到关于他们的运动时间的反馈。然而，只有 PF 组在每个试验块后收到反馈，承认其表现良好。24 小时后，两组都在没有任何反馈的情况下进行了学习测试。问卷（内在动机量表）被用来衡量参与者的动机水平。结果显示，两组在练习期间的表现和高水平的内在动力都得到了显着改善，并且持续了几天。未发现组间在动机、表现和学习方面的差异。这些结果表明，在尽可能短的时间内骑脚踏车对儿童来说是一项内在的激励任务，他们的学习不会因提供承认良好表现的积极反馈陈述而改变，可能是通过激励天花板效应。研究结果表明，任务固有的动机特征可以调节儿童的积极反馈学习效果。未来的研究可以衡量其他动机结构，例如学习者在练习任务中的坚持，或者可以包括可能揭示儿童应对错误能力差异的失败后措施。组之间的差异将表明，在本实验中没有捕捉到的儿童提供积极反馈表扬表现的潜在好处，即使在学习内在激励任务方面也是如此。