Concurrent vs. Terminal Augmented Feedback in the Learning of a Discrete Bimanual Coordination Task.

Abstract

Two experiments compared the effects of concurrent and terminal augmented feedback in learning a bimanual coordination task. In the first experiment, twenty-four participants practiced a discrete bimanual task that required a 90$\sp\circ$ phase offset of the upper limbs under one of two feedback conditions: concurrent or terminal. Participants in the concurrent feedback group received feedback as they performed the task during acquisition. Participants in the terminal feedback group received feedback after they completed each acquisition trial. Results indicated that concurrent group was able to more accurately produce the target figure during acquisition than the terminal group. Unlike earlier studies which employed single-limb tasks and which showed that terminal participants outperform concurrent participants in retention, there was no significant difference between the two groups on transfer tests with no feedback. In fact, although the difference was not significant, participants in the concurrent group performed better than participants in the terminal group during these retention tests. In the second experiment, forty-eight participants practiced the same task under one of four conditions: concurrent, terminal, transition, and control. Concurrent and terminal feedback groups received feedback as in Experiment 1. Transition and control groups received concurrent feedback during the first two blocks of acquisition. During the remainder of acquisition, the transition group received terminal feedback and the control group received no feedback. Results indicated that the control group performed less accurately than the other three groups during acquisition. On transfer tests with no feedback, the performance of the concurrent group deteriorated such that it approached the performance of the control group. The transition and terminal groups were more accurate than the control group. The results of this experiment support previous research which has found that the presentation of concurrent feedback, as opposed to terminal feedback, enhances performance during acquisition but hinders long-term retention. The results of this dissertation demonstrate that there are some conditions under which concurrent augmented feedback can be effective for learning. These findings support the hypothesis by Lee, Swinnen and Serrien (1994) that augmented feedback is most useful when it assists the learner in interpreting intrinsic sources of feedback.