Combined Punishment and Reward Feedback During Sequence Learning

Abstract

Punishment and reward feedback during motor learning tasks appear to have some beneficial impact on learning and retention, respectively. Therefore, it is possible that combining punishment and reward feedback would benefit both learning and retention. Within the sports coaching domain, a combination of punishment and reward feedback schedule has been suggested to improve performance. According to the coaching literature, the most effective approach is providing reward-to-punishment feedback. However, transitioning from punishment-to-reward feedback may be more effective based on the motor learning literature. The present study examined the utility of combining punishment and reward feedback through a transition schedule approach during a serial reaction time task. To test the competing predictions about feedback order, half the participants received punishment-to-reward feedback and the other half received the reverse order. Our results revealed that training response time significantly improved with no significant difference between the order of feedback. However, both types of feedback order did not improve retention during the same-day and delayed post-tests. Yet, the non-significant equivalence test indicates that these findings remain inconclusive. Finally, within-subjects analysis of the punishment and reward conditions found that training significantly improved response time with no difference between them. In this case, the equivalence test was significant, revealing that the estimated effect was surprisingly small. Overall, the current study failed to find conclusive evidence that the order of a transition feedback schedule matters for learning and retention. However, the difference between punishment and reward conditions may be smaller than previously assumed by motor learning studies.