Facilitation of Psychomotor Learning by Classically Differentiated Supplementary Feedback Cues

Abstract

2 experiments on the control of psychomotor performance by classically differentiated supplementary feedback cues are reported. The first, conducted with 30 Ss as a replication of an earlier study, demonstrated again that otherwise ineffective supplementary cues can be transformed into highly effective regulators of psychomotor performance by differential conditioning procedures. The second, conducted with 78 Ss, showed that the effects of classically differentiated supplementary cues on tracking skill increased as a negatively accelerated function of the number of differentiation trials. Results were interpreted as exemplifying the operation of secondary drive and reinforcement principles, although the nonspecific transfer of arousal and/or warm-up effects were acknowledged as worthy alternatives.