8.1 Types of Feedback (Intrinsic and Extrinsic)

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Feedback

Feedback is how you know whether a movement went right or wrong, and it's the primary driver of motor learning. It splits into two categories: intrinsic feedback (sensory information your body generates naturally during movement) and extrinsic feedback (additional information provided by an outside source like a coach or video replay). Understanding how these two types work together is central to designing effective practice and instruction.

Characteristics of Intrinsic Feedback

Intrinsic feedback is sensory information that is inherently available to you as a result of performing a movement. You don't need anyone to provide it; it's built into the act of moving.

• It includes proprioceptive (body position, movement, force), visual, and auditory information
• It's always present during movement execution. You can't turn it off.
• Over time, intrinsic feedback is what allows you to develop your own error detection and correction mechanisms. This is the internal "feel" that skilled performers rely on.

Think of a basketball free throw. As you release the ball, you can feel the flick of your wrist (proprioceptive), see the ball's arc (visual), and hear it hit the rim or swish through the net (auditory). All of that is intrinsic feedback, and none of it required a coach.

Characteristics of Extrinsic Feedback

Extrinsic feedback is augmented information provided by an external source. It supplements what you already sense on your own.

• Sources include coaches, instructors, video replay, biofeedback machines, or even a simple stopwatch readout
• It may or may not be available. Unlike intrinsic feedback, someone has to choose to provide it.
• Its main role is to guide the learner toward the desired movement pattern, especially when intrinsic feedback alone isn't enough to identify what went wrong

A beginning swimmer, for example, may not be able to feel that their elbow is dropping during the pull phase. A coach pointing this out provides extrinsic feedback that fills a gap the learner's own senses can't yet cover.

Sensory Information for Feedback

Intrinsic feedback isn't a single channel. It comes from several sensory systems working at the same time. Understanding each one helps you recognize what information a learner actually has access to during a task.

Proprioceptive and Tactile Feedback

Proprioceptive feedback comes from receptors in muscles, tendons, and joints. It tells you where your limbs are in space, how fast they're moving, and how much force you're producing. This is the feedback that lets you reach for a light switch in a dark room.

Tactile feedback is the sensation of contact between your body and the environment. In a soccer kick, it's the feel of the ball against your foot. In rock climbing, it's the texture and pressure of the hold against your fingers. Tactile information is especially important for tasks that involve object manipulation or surface interaction.

Visual and Auditory Feedback

Visual feedback lets you observe your own movement and its outcome. A golfer watches the ball flight after a swing; a dancer checks body position in a mirror. Vision enables direct comparison between what happened and what you intended.

Auditory feedback provides information about movement quality and timing. The crisp sound of a tennis ball hitting the sweet spot of a racket tells you something different from a dull, off-center thud. Runners can monitor their stride rhythm by listening to the pattern of their footsteps.

Integration of Sensory Modalities

No single sense gives you the full picture. Your nervous system integrates proprioceptive, tactile, visual, and auditory information to form a comprehensive internal representation of the movement. This multisensory integration is what allows skilled performers to detect subtle errors. When one channel is removed (say, vision in a dark environment), performance typically suffers because the representation becomes incomplete.

Extrinsic Feedback Types and Applications

Extrinsic feedback can be categorized by what information it provides and when it's delivered. These distinctions matter because they affect learning differently.

Knowledge of Results (KR) and Knowledge of Performance (KP)

Knowledge of Results (KR) is post-response information about the outcome of the movement relative to the goal. It answers the question: Did you achieve what you were trying to do?

• Particularly useful in early stages of learning, when the learner is still understanding task requirements and developing basic movement patterns
• Example: telling a dart thrower their dart landed 3 cm to the left of the bullseye

Knowledge of Performance (KP) is information about the quality of the movement execution itself. It answers: How did you move?

• More beneficial in later stages of learning, when the learner is refining technique and optimizing performance
• Example: telling a tennis player that their elbow angle was too wide during the serve

The key distinction: KR focuses on the result, KP focuses on the process. A learner might achieve the correct outcome with poor form (or vice versa), so both types provide different and complementary information.

Concurrent and Terminal Feedback

Concurrent feedback is provided during the execution of the movement.

• Useful for complex or continuous tasks, such as a coach verbally guiding a gymnast through a routine in real time
• Risk: overuse can create dependency, where the learner relies on the external cues rather than developing their own error detection

Terminal feedback is provided after the movement is completed.

• Can take the form of KR or KP
• Gives the learner time to process their own intrinsic feedback first, which supports the development of internal error detection and correction mechanisms

The choice between concurrent and terminal feedback depends on the task and the learner's stage. Concurrent feedback can be a useful scaffold early on, but transitioning to terminal feedback encourages greater self-reliance.

Feedback Effectiveness for Motor Performance

Not all feedback is equally helpful. How, when, and how often you deliver feedback can either accelerate learning or accidentally hold it back.

Factors Influencing Feedback Effectiveness

Three main factors shape how effective feedback will be:

• Stage of learning: Novice learners generally benefit from more frequent and detailed feedback. Experienced learners tend to perform better with less frequent, more summarized feedback that lets them self-evaluate.
• Task complexity: Simple tasks and complex tasks respond differently to feedback timing and detail (more on this below).
• Individual differences: Learners vary in their preferences, processing speed, and ability to use different types of feedback.

Strategies for Optimizing Feedback Effectiveness

Several evidence-based strategies help prevent feedback dependency while still supporting learning:

1. Bandwidth feedback is provided only when performance falls outside a predetermined acceptable range. If you're within the bandwidth, you get no feedback. This promotes self-evaluation because the learner must judge their own performance on "no feedback" trials.

2. Faded feedback gradually reduces the frequency or detail of extrinsic feedback over time. Early in practice, feedback might come after every trial. As the learner improves, it shifts to every third or fifth trial. This facilitates the transition from external guidance to self-regulation.

3. Feedback timing also matters:

   • Immediate feedback tends to be more beneficial for simple tasks where the learner needs quick confirmation
   • Delayed feedback is often more effective for complex tasks because it gives the learner time to process intrinsic feedback before receiving external input

4. Combining KR and KP provides a more comprehensive understanding of both the movement outcome and the movement process, which enhances overall skill acquisition.