Discuss the role of feedback in the learning of skills
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Feedback is generally referred to as "all the information in its various forms that a performer receives as a result of movement." (Wesson et al 1998) When a performer is taking part in physical activity information is fed back into their brain either during the activity via continuous feedback, this has the role of keeping the performer informed of all the small corrections they could be making during training to improve their learning of the skill they are improving (See appendix one), or after the activity via terminal feedback, whereby the performer can learn from the cumulative mistakes that he/she has made without noticing or that happen over a period of time, i.e. ball possession in a football game (See appendix two).
This information can come from within the performer via intrinsic feedback, this is a good method for the learning of skills because only the performer knows really how they feel about a certain skill, and whether the performer 'feels' that they are performing correctly (See appendix three), this can only really be applied to the elite performer because a beginner may not be aware that he/she can do this in the learning phase. Feedback can also be given from the performers trainer via extrinsic feedback, which is essential for the learning of skills as the performers coach is more likely to be more experienced and has more knowledge as to how skills are performed correctly (See appendix four). This information is used to either detect and correct errors during the activity or to make changes/improvements the next time the skill is performed.
As well as changing an athlete's performance, feedback can also be used to reinforce learning by using the knowledge of results and knowledge of performance feedback techniques. Knowledge of results is an essential feature of skill learning. Without knowing what the results of our actions have been we will be unable to modify them in order to produce the precise movements needed for the correct performance of a skill...