I’m looking for research (for instance from psychology) showing that detailed feedback and criticism improves performance greatly and would be very grateful if I could get any tips in this regard. (I think I’ve heard that this is the case but can’t find any papers on this.) I’m especially interested in how criticisms of texts can improve authors’ writings but am also interested in examples from other fields.
I’m thinking that such feedback could improve performance via (at least) two mechanisms:
a) It teaches you exactly what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong; i.e. gives you knowledge
b) It may incentivize you to do things rightly, if you want to get praise and avoid criticism. The strength of this incentive obviously depends on the context; for instance, public feedback should generally provide you with stronger incentives than private feedback.
This seems intuitively clear, but still it would be nice to have some research saying that the effect of feedback is very strong (if it is, as I suspect). Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot! Highly useful. The evidence seems to be mixed, though good feedback does increase performance. Very nice of you to dig up all those links so quickly! :)
I’m looking for research (for instance from psychology) showing that detailed feedback and criticism improves performance greatly
Are you looking for evidence to support your beliefs or are you looking for evidence to tell you what your beliefs should be? :-)
On the anecdata basis, results vary. For some people in some situations performance is improved by feedback, but not always and not for everyone. Two examples off the top of my head where feedback/criticism doesn’t help: (1) if the person already reached the limits of his ability and/or motivation; (2) if criticism is used as a tool to wield power.
I’m looking for research (for instance from psychology) showing that detailed feedback and criticism improves performance greatly and would be very grateful if I could get any tips in this regard. (I think I’ve heard that this is the case but can’t find any papers on this.) I’m especially interested in how criticisms of texts can improve authors’ writings but am also interested in examples from other fields.
I’m thinking that such feedback could improve performance via (at least) two mechanisms:
a) It teaches you exactly what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong; i.e. gives you knowledge b) It may incentivize you to do things rightly, if you want to get praise and avoid criticism. The strength of this incentive obviously depends on the context; for instance, public feedback should generally provide you with stronger incentives than private feedback.
This seems intuitively clear, but still it would be nice to have some research saying that the effect of feedback is very strong (if it is, as I suspect). Any help is greatly appreciated.
These pieces seem relevant:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24702833
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24005703
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23906385
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23276127
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22352981
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17474045
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16557357
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16033667
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12687924
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12518979
Thanks a lot! Highly useful. The evidence seems to be mixed, though good feedback does increase performance. Very nice of you to dig up all those links so quickly! :)
Are you looking for evidence to support your beliefs or are you looking for evidence to tell you what your beliefs should be? :-)
On the anecdata basis, results vary. For some people in some situations performance is improved by feedback, but not always and not for everyone. Two examples off the top of my head where feedback/criticism doesn’t help: (1) if the person already reached the limits of his ability and/or motivation; (2) if criticism is used as a tool to wield power.
Thanks!
The keyword you’re looking for is “deliberate practice”. A quick pubmed search should turn up relevant results.