Feedback Support Requirements for Learning a Cognitive Task: The Role of Cognitive Resources and Task Complexity.

[摘要] The amount of feedback required to learn a new task has been investigated fordecades with mixed results (cf. Schmidt & Bjork, 1992; Van Merrienboer & Sweller, 2005).One possible explanation is the learner’s cognitive resources and demands imposed by thetask may determine feedback requirements (McLaughlin, Rogers, & Fisk, 2006). To test thismodel, a study was conducted that accounted for the learner’s cognitive resources bycomparing samples of populations with known differences, older and younger adults (Horn& Cattell, 1967; Salthouse & Babcock, 1991). To account for task demands, a simple rulebasedcue learning task was created. The task required participants to learn how to identifyfake Windows popups using two different cues, a visual cue and a verbal cue. Participantsused different cognitive abilities to identify the cues. The visual cue required the use of fluidabilities while the verbal cue drew from participants’ crystallized intelligence. Varying levels of feedback support were provided throughout the learning process. Results indicatedyounger adults benefited from increased feedback support, while older adults benefited fromincreased feedback support with the visual cue, but decreased feedback support with theverbal cue. One explanation for the current findings is specific cognitive abilities of thelearner influence the demands of the task and thus influences feedback support requirements.

[发布机构] University:North Carolina State University

[效力级别] Learning

[关键词] Feedback;Learning;Aging