Gender Stereotype Threat Undermines Dance Performance and Learning in Boys.

The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of gender stereotype on the performance and learning of a classical ballet pirouette in 11-year-old boys. Participants in the stereotype threat (ST) group were informed that, in general, boys tend to show worse results when completing the pirouette task in comparison to girls. Participants in the stereotype lift (SL) group were told that girls tend to show worse results in comparison to boys. The control group did not receive stereotype instructions. The results demonstrated worse performance during practice and retention (next day) for the ST group relative to the SL and control groups; the SL and control groups did not differ. The findings indicate that gender stereotype threat can undermine motor performance and learning in boys.

Cooperation enhances motor learning.

Relatedness represents the need to experience satisfaction from interpersonal acceptance and closeness with others and is considered a basic psychological human need. Studies testing the effects of supporting the learners' need for relatedness in motor learning (e.g., Gonzalez & Chiviacowsky, 2018) have manipulated relatedness basically by instructions from the experimenter and using practice and learning at an individual level. A different form of supporting the need for relatedness is through cooperative learning. In different domains, contexts involving cooperative effort strategies and goals were observed to result in greater positive interpersonal relationship and higher goal achievement in relation to individual efforts or competitive conditions. In this experiment, the effects of practice structured in cooperative or competitive ways on the learning of hitting a ball with a racket toward a target was tested. Adolescents practiced in pairs and were assigned to three experimental groups. In the cooperation group, the participants practiced in a cooperative condition while in the competitive group, the participants practiced in a competitive condition. Participants in a control group also practiced in the presence of another participant but were not induced at cooperative or competitive conditions. In the next day all groups performed retention and transfer tests. Questionnaires measured the participants' motivational and affective levels. The results show that cooperation increases intrinsic motivation, positive affect, self-efficacy, and task learning relative to individual efforts or competitive practice. Competition decreases perceived relatedness. The findings add to a growing body of evidence showing the importance of social relatedness for motor performance and learning. They also indicate a positive influential role of cooperation in motor learning.

Effects of Gender Stereotypes on Balance Performance and Learning in Men.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of gender stereotypes on the performance and learning of a balance task in men. Before practice, forty-eight participants received instructions involving the comparison of balance between males and females: males normally perform worse than females (stereotype threat condition - ST), females usually perform worse than males (stereotype lift condition - SL), or no instructions regarding gender stereotypes (control condition). One day later, they performed a retention test. The results show that the SL group outperformed the other groups during practice, but not retention. ST participants reported lower perceived competence. The findings show that gender stereotypes can affect perceptions of competence and balance performance, but not balance learning, in men.

Relatedness support enhances motivation, positive affect, and motor learning in adolescents.

Social relatedness is a basic psychological need to experience satisfaction of interpersonal acceptance and closeness with others. In this experiment, the effects of social relatedness on the learning of a task (hitting a ball with a racket toward a target) were tested in adolescents. Participants were assigned to three experimental groups. After a pre-test and before practice, participants in the relatedness support (RS) condition received instructions emphasizing recognition, importance, and interest in the participant's experience. Participants in the relatedness frustration (RF) condition received instructions emphasizing disinterest in the participant as a person. Control participants did not receive specific relatedness instructions. One day later, they performed retention and transfer tests. Questionnaires measured participants' motivational and affective levels. The results showed that supporting the relatedness need enhances task learning in adolescents. Motivation and affective levels were also affected. The findings are the first to show that social relatedness affects adolescent's motor performance and learning and reveal underlying mechanisms implicated in such effects.

Explicit and implicit activation of gender stereotypes additively impair soccer performance and learning in women.

AbstractStudies involving the manipulation of instructions regarding the negative characteristics of a group or comparisons with members of another group (explicit activation of stereotypes) have shown that age, weight, and gender stereotypes can be harmful to motor performance and learning. To date, however, no study has observed whether implicit stereotype threats, such as the sex of the coach or experimenter, can also influence the acquisition of motor skills. In the present study, the individual and combined impact of implicit and explicit influences of gender stereotype on women's soccer performance and learning was examined. In a 2 × 2 design, 60 women were divided into four groups according to the presence or absence of explicit (ES) and implicit (IS) stereotypes: ES/IS, ES, IS, and control. The groups with implicit activation practiced in the presence of a male experimenter. The groups with explicit activation received instructions activating the gender negative stereotype. The control group practiced without stereotype activations. The results showed that both explicit and implicit activation additively impaired soccer performance and learning, with both main effects being significant for practice and retention. The ES/IS group showed lower scores on the task relative to the other groups, while the ES and IS groups showed worse scores compared with the control group. The findings suggest that stigmatised populations may be forced to cope with more than one social identity threat while learning sport motor skills and indicate the importance of further studies testing strategies to minimise the deleterious effects of negative stereotypes.

External relative to internal attentional focus enhances motor performance and learning in visually impaired individuals.

Background: Research has demonstrated the advantages of an external relative to internal focus of attention for enhancing motor performance and learning across diverse tasks, contexts and populations. However, research has yet to examine whether this finding holds true for individuals who have a major visual impairment in discrete and locomotion-based continuous motor tasks.Methods: In experiment 1, twenty-four visually impaired participants were asked to kick a soccer ball with their dominant foot to a target 7 meters away. Participants performed 10 trials within an internal focus (concentration on inside of the foot), external focus (concentration on the ball), and control (no focus instructions) conditions, in a counterbalanced order. In experiment 2, thirty-nine visually impaired adults were asked to ride a rehabilitation Pedalo for a distance of 7 meters. Participants were randomly assigned to either an internal focus (focus on the feet), external focus (focus on the platform), or control (no focus instructions) group. Retention and transfer tests were conducted on day 2.Results: An external focus resulted in more accurate kicks and faster pedalo movement times compared to an internal focus.Conclusions: These findings indicate that visual information does not mediate external focus benefits for motor performance and learning.Implications for RehabilitationPractitioners should use instructions that encourage visually impaired individuals who are going through rehabilitation to adopt an appropriate focus of attention for enhancing motor performance and learning of discrete or locomotion-based motor skills.Instructions that foster an external focus, relative to an internal focus, enhances performance of both discrete and continuous motor skills in individuals with visual impairment.

Conceptions of Ability Influence the Learning of a Dance Pirouette in Children.

Conceptions of ability induced by instructions or feedback have been shown to influence motivation, reactions to failure, and learning in various populations. Few studies, however, have examined such effects on motor learning. The present study investigated the influence of conceptions of ability on the learning of a dance pirouette in 10-year-old children. Two groups of participants were given either acquirable-skill (AS) or inherent-ability (IA) instructions before they began practicing the dance skill. All participants performed 15 practice trials of a (right) pirouette in which the objective was to rotate as far as possible in a circle divided into eight equal sections, where the dependent variable was the number of sections rotated. One day later participants completed retention and transfer (left pirouette) tests, five trials of each, without ability conception instructions. The induced conceptions of ability affected children's motor learning differently, with AS participants consistently scoring higher. These results demonstrate the advantage of using acquirable versus inherent conceptions of ability to promote the learning of dance skills in particular and add to the growing body of research demonstrating the importance of socio-cognitive-affective variables in motor performance and learning generally.

Triple play: Additive contributions of enhanced expectancies, autonomy support, and external attentional focus to motor learning.

In the OPTIMAL theory of motor learning [Wulf, G., & Lewthwaite, R. (2016). Optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning: The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 23, 1382-1414], 3 factors are postulated to facilitate learning: enhanced expectancies (EE) for performance, autonomy support (AS), and an external focus (EF) of attention. In 3 recent studies, combinations of 2 of these variables resulted in superior learning relative to the presence of only 1 variable, or none. We examined whether the combination of all 3 factors would enhance learning relative to combinations of 2 factors. Our design included EE-AS, EE-EF, AS-EF, and AS-EE-EF groups. Participants threw balls at a target with their non-dominant arm. In the EE conditions, they received positive social-comparative feedback. In the AS conditions, they were allowed to throw with their dominant arm on trial blocks chosen by them. In the EF conditions, participants were asked to focus on the target. On a delayed retention test, the AS-EE-EF group outperformed all other groups. The findings provide evidence that enhanced expectancies, autonomy support, and an external focus can contribute in an additive fashion to optimize motor learning.

Relatedness support enhances motor learning.

The present experiment was designed to test the effects of practice with relatedness support on motor learning. Forty-five young adults practiced a task in which they were required to learn to swim the front crawl stroke for one length in an indoor swimming pool (25 m) using 50% of the maximal speed. In the relatedness support condition (RS group), the instructions emphasized acknowledgement, caring, and interest in the participants' experiences, while in the relatedness thwart condition (RTh group), instructions emphasized disinterest in the participant as a person. A third, neutral condition (Control group) did not receive specific relatedness instructions. One day after practice, participants completed retention and transfer tests. The RS group demonstrated greater improvement in performance during practice and enhanced learning relative to the RTh and Control groups, while the RTh group showed decreased learning compared with the Control group. Furthermore, RS participants reported higher motivation and greater positive affect than the RTh and Control groups. The present findings demonstrate that relatedness support enhances the learning of motor skills. They also highlight motivational and affective effects that are observed when learners are provided with relatedness support.

Temporal-Comparative Feedback Facilitates Golf Putting.

The present experiment investigated the influence of temporal-comparative feedback in young adults learning a sport motor skill. A positive temporal-comparative feedback group and a control group practiced putting golf balls to a target from a distance of 150 cm and received augmented feedback (deviation in cm) in addition to their intrinsic visual feedback. The temporal-comparative feedback group was given additional feedback after each block of 10 trials, suggesting that their average performance was better than it was in the previous block. One day after the practice phase a retention test was performed, to observe learning effects. The results showed that positive temporal-comparative feedback enhances the learning of a putting golf task. Greater putting accuracy was observed on the retention test for the temporal comparison group relative to the control group. Questionnaire results also indicated that participants in this group reported higher perceived competence at the end of practice relative to control participants. The findings provide further indication that temporal comparison affects the learning of motor skills and highlight the important motivational role of feedback in motor learning.

External Focus of Attention Enhances Children's Learning of a Classical Ballet Pirouette.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of instructions promoting an external versus internal focus of attention on the learning of a specific balance task, the pirouette en dehors (from fourth position), in 10-year-old novice ballet students. In addition, we sought to gain insight into learners' motivation and subjective learning experience as a function of different focus conditions. Thirty-eight children were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In the external focus (EF) group, participants were asked to focus on a spotting point on the wall in front of them for as long as possible. In the internal focus (IF) group, participants were asked to focus on the initial position of their head relative to the wall in front of them and on keeping it in that position for as long as possible. The task goal was to rotate as far as possible, and the dependent variable was the number of degrees rotated. All participants performed 15 practice trials of a (right) pirouette. Two days later, participants completed retention and transfer (left pirouette) tests without attentional focus reminders. After the practice phase, participants were asked what they thought about while practicing the pirouette and completed self-rating scales related to their perceived competence, effort, and sense of the importance of doing well. The EF group demonstrated superior performance relative to the IF group during practice, retention, and transfer phases. In addition, EF participants' responses indicated higher perceived competence and greater satisfaction with their performance, as well as greater importance of performing well. In contrast, IF participants reported more nervousness and fear of losing balance and not doing well. Overall, the findings demonstrate that external relative to internal focus instructions enhanced the students' learning of the pirouette en dehors and had positive motivational consequences.

Comparação do equilíbrio dinâmico entre praticantes de Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu com diferentes níveis de experiência / Comparison of dynamic balance between Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners with different levels of experience

Resumo O objetivo do presente estudo foi analisar o equilíbrio dinâmico em praticantes experientes e iniciantes de Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) e grupo controle. A amostra do presente estudo foi composta por 34 participantes, com idades entre 20 e 42 anos, divididos em três grupos: 10 praticantes de BJJ Experientes, 12 praticantes de BJJ Iniciantes e 12 não praticantes de BJJ que compuseram o grupo controle. A tarefa do protocolo consistiu na busca do equilíbrio sobre um estabilômetro, com o objetivo de manter a plataforma o mais perto possível da posição horizontal (ângulo de 0 a 3º de desvio máximo) durante cada tentativa de 90 segundos. Os resultados demonstram diferenças significativas entre os grupos [F(2,31) = 30,24; p < 0,001]. Através dos testes de "post-hoc" foram detectadas diferenças entre o grupo Experientes (46 ± 14 s) e os outros dois grupos, Iniciantes (25 ± 6 s, p < 0,001) e Grupo Controle (19 ± 4 s, p < 0,001). Todavia, não foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre os Grupo Controle e Iniciantes (p = 0,421). Os resultados sugerem que o tempo de prática de BJJ pode influenciar no desempenho do controle do equilíbrio.

Abstract The aim of the present study was to analyze the dynamic balance in experienced and beginners practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and control group. The sample was composed by 34 participants with ages ranging between 20 and 42 years old, divided into three groups: 10 experienced BJJ practitioners, 12 beginners BJJ practitioners and 12 non-practitioners of BJJ that composed the control group. The task of the protocol consisted on the search for balance over a stabilometer, aiming at keeping the platform as close as possible of the horizontal position during each attempt. The results show significant differences among the groups [F(2.31) = 30,24; p < 0.001]. The post-hoc test revealed differences among the experienced BJJ group (46 ± 14 s) and the other groups (Beginners BJJ: 25 ± 6 s, p < 0.001; Control group: 19 ± 4 s, p < 0.001). However, no significant differences were found between control and beginners BJJ groups (p = 0.421). The results suggest that the time of BJJ practice may influence on the balance control performance.

Conhecimento de performance com base no Teste do Desempenho Motor do Nado Crawl, na aprendizagem do nado crawl / Knowledge of performance based on the swimming crawl motor performance test in the learning of swimming crawl / Conocimiento de la performance en base a la prueba de rendimiento motor natación estilo crawl, luego de buenos contra malos intentos de práctica, en el aprendizaje del estilo crawl

ResumoO objetivo deste estudo foi verificar os efeitos do conhecimento de performance (CP), com base no teste do desempenho motor do nado crawl (TDMND) (Corazza et al., 2006), na aprendizagem do nado crawl. Participaram do estudo 41 adultos. Enquanto um grupo recebeu CP após boas tentativas, o outro recebeu CP após as más tentativas. O TDMNC, composto por 29 itens, foi usado para a elaboração das informações de CP, assim como para a constatação dos níveis de aprendizagem. Para ambos os grupos, independentemente do CP fornecido, foi detectada diferença entre o pré e o pós-teste, o que indica sucesso no processo de aprendizagem. No entanto, na comparação entre os pós-testes, não foram observadas diferenças significativas entre os grupos. A complexidade do teste e a dificuldade dos aprendizes em discriminar entre boas e más tentativas de prática são discutidos.

AbstractThe objective of this study was to verify the effects of knowledge of performance (KP) based on the Swimming Crawl Motor Performance Test (SCMPT) (Corazza et al., 2006) on the learning of swimming crawl. Forty-one undergraduate students, divided into two groups, participated in the study. While one group received KP after good trials, the other received KP after poor trials. The SCMPT, consisting of 29 items, was used for KP elaboration, as well as for motor learning assessment. Difference between groups was not observed on the post-test. The complexity of the test and the difficulty of learners in discriminating between good and bad trials are discussed.

ResumenEl objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar los efectos del conocimiento de la performance (CP) en base a la Prueba de Rendimiento Motor del Estilo Crawl (Corazza et al., 2006), en el aprendizaje del nado crawl. Participaron del estudio 41 adultos, divididos en dos grupos: G-buenos que recibieron un CP luego de buenos intentos de práctica y G-malos que recibieron CP luego de malas tentativas de práctica. La prueba, que consta de 29 artículos, se utilizó para la preparación de la información para CP, así como para la evaluación de los niveles de aprendizaje. Para ambos grupos, independientemente del CP realizado, fue detectada una diferencia entre el pre y el pos test, indicando una mejora en el proceso de aprendizaje. No se encontró diferencia entre los grupos pos test. La complejidad de la prueba y la dificultad de los alumnos a discriminar entre los buenos y malos intentos de práctica se discuten.

Choose to move: The motivational impact of autonomy support on motor learning.

Numerous studies in the motor learning domain have demonstrated learning advantages of self-controlled practice relative to yoked conditions. In separate lines of evidence in the social-psychological literature, findings show that providing participants with task-relevant autonomy support or minor incidental choices can result in superior outcomes when compared with conditions that thwart autonomy or do not offer choice. We hypothesized that motor learning could be enhanced by providing learners with choices - even if those choices are unrelated to task performance. In Experiment 1, two groups of participants practiced a golf putting task. While one group (the choice group) was able to select the color of golf balls (white, yellow, or orange) to be used in each upcoming block of 10 trials, participants in the second group (the yoked group) were provided with the same colored golf balls their choice-group counterparts had chosen. The results of a 24-h delayed retention test indicated significantly greater putting accuracy for the choice compared with the yoked group. Experiment 2 went one step further by asking choice group participants for their preferences regarding two issues unrelated to the practice task (balancing on a stabilometer): (1) which of two subsequent tasks (coincident timing or hand dynamometry) they wanted to perform and (2) which of two prints of paintings by Renoir they thought the investigator should hang on the laboratory wall. Yoked group participants were simply informed about which task they would perform afterwards and of which painting the experimenter would put on the wall. Balance learning was significantly more effective in the choice group on a retention test. Thus, self-controlled practice conditions can influence motor learning without providing task-relevant information, content, or strategic learning advantages. Self-controlled effects in motor learning may be motivational in nature, attributable to satisfaction of fundamental autonomy needs.

Self-controlled practice benefits motor learning in older adults.

Providing learners with the chance to choose over certain aspects of practice has been consistently shown to facilitate the acquisition of motor skills in several populations. However, studies investigating the effects of providing autonomy support during the learning process of older adults remain scarce. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of self-controlled amount of practice on the learning of a sequential motor task in older adults. Participants in the self-control group were able to choose when to stop practicing a speed cup stacking task, while the number of practice trials for a yoked group was pre-determined, mirroring the self-control group. The opportunity to choose when stop practicing facilitated motor performance and learning compared to the yoked condition. The findings suggest that letting older adult learners choose the amount of practice, supporting their autonomy needs, has a positive influence on motor learning.

External focus and autonomy support: two important factors in motor learning have additive benefits.

We examined whether the combination of two factors that have consistently been found to enhance motor learning - an external focus (EF) of attention and autonomy support (AS) - would produce additive benefits. Participants practiced throwing with their non-dominant arm. In a 2×2 design, they were or were not asked to focus externally (i.e., on the target), and were or were not given a choice (autonomy support). The latter involved choosing 2 5-trials blocks during practice on which they used their dominant arm. All four groups - EF/AS, EF, AS, and C (control) - completed a practice phase consisting of 60 trials. The distance to the target (bull's eye) was 7.5m. One day later, participants performed retention (same target distance) and transfer tests (8.5m). Both external focus instructions and autonomy support enhanced retention and transfer performance. Importantly, the combination of these factors resulted in additive learning advantages. The EF/AS group showed the greatest throwing accuracy, and the EF and AS groups outperformed the C group. In addition, self-efficacy measured after practice and before retention and transfer was increased by both factors. Thus, promoting an external focus of attention and supporting learners' need for autonomy seem to independently influence learning.

Children's learning of tennis skills is facilitated by external focus instructions / Aprendizagem de habilidades do tênis em crianças é facilitada por instruções de foco externo / Aprendizaje de habilidades del tenis en los niños es facilitada por instrucciones con foco externo

The present study examined the effects of instructions promoting external versus internal foci of attention on the learning of a tennis forehand stroke in 11-year old children. Three groups of participants practiced hitting tennis balls at a target. External focus group participants were instructed to direct their attention to the movement of the racquet, while participants in the internal focus group were asked to direct their attention to the movements of their arm. Participants in a control group did not receive attentional focus instructions. Two days after the practice phase (60 trials), learning was assessed in retention and transfer tests. The results showed that the external focus group demonstrated greater accuracy in hitting a target relative to the two other groups in retention, and relative to the internal focus group in transfer. We conclude that instructions inducing an external focus of attention can enhance children's sport skill learning...

"Aprendizagem de habilidades do tênis em crianças é facilitada por instruções de foco externo." O presente estudo examinou os efeitos de instruções promovendo foco de atenção externo versus interno na aprendizagem da rebatida de forehand do tênis em crianças de 11 anos de idade. Três grupos de participantes praticaram a tarefa. Os participantes do grupo de foco externo foram instruídos a direcionar a atenção para os movimentos da raquete, enquanto os participantes no grupo de foco interno a direcionar a atenção aos movimentos do braço. Participantes do grupo controle não receberam instruções de foco de atenção. Dois dias após a prática (60 tentativas) a aprendizagem foi avaliada através de testes de retenção e transferência. Os resultados demonstraram que o grupo de foco externo apresentou maior precisão em relação aos dois outros grupos na retenção e em relação ao grupo de foco interno na transferência. Conclui-se que instruções induzindo foco externo de atenção pode melhorar a aprendizagem de habilidades esportivas em crianças...

"Aprendizaje de habilidades del tenis en los niños es facilitada por instrucciones con foco externo." El presente estudio examinó los efectos de las instrucciones con foco de atención interno frente a externo en el aprendizaje de "forehand" del tenis en niños. Tres grupos de participantes practicaron la tarea. Los participantes en el grupo de foco externo fueron instruidos para dirigir la atención a los movimientos de la raqueta, mientras que los participantes en el grupo de foco interno a poner la atención a los movimientos del brazo. El grupo control no recibió instrucciones de foco de atención. Dos días después el aprendizaje se evaluó mediante pruebas de retención y transferencia. Los resultados mostraron que el grupo de foco externo presentó mayor precisión en relación con los otros grupos en la retención y al grupo de foco interno en la transferencia. Llegamos a la conclusión de que las instrucciones que inducen foco externo de la atención pueden mejorar el aprendizaje de habilidades deportivas en los niños...

Self-controlled practice enhances motor learning in introverts and extroverts.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of self-controlled feedback on the learning of a sequential-timing motor task in introverts and extroverts. METHOD: Fifty-six university students were selected by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. They practiced a motor task consisting of pressing computer keyboard keys in a specific spatial and temporal pattern. The experiment consisted of practice, retention, and transfer phases. The participants were distributed into 4 groups, formed by the combination of personality trait (extraversion/introversion) and type of feedback frequency (self-controlled/yoked). RESULTS: The results showed superior learning for the groups that practiced in a self-controlled schedule, in relation to groups who practiced in an externally controlled schedule, F(1, 52) = 4.13, p < .05, eta2 = .07, regardless of personality trait. CONCLUSION: We conclude that self-controlled practice enhances motor learning in introverts and extroverts.

Additive benefits of autonomy support and enhanced expectancies for motor learning.

Two factors that have been shown to facilitate motor learning are autonomy support (AS) and enhanced expectancies (EE) for performance. We examined the individual and combined influences of these factors. In a 2 × 2 design, participants learning a novel motor skill (throwing with the non-dominant arm) were or were not provided a choice (AS) about the ball color on each of 6 10-trial blocks during practice, and were or were not given bogus positive social-comparative feedback (EE). This resulted in four groups: AS/EE, AS, EE, and C (control). One day after the practice phase, participants completed 10 retention and 10 transfer trials. The distance to the target--a bull's eye with a 1m radius and 10 concentric circles--was 7.5m during practice and retention, and 8.5m during transfer. Autonomy support and enhanced expectancies had additive advantages for learning, with both main effects being significant for retention and transfer. On both tests, the AS/EE group showed the greatest throwing accuracy. Also, the accuracy scores of the AS and EE groups were higher than those of the C group. Furthermore, self-efficacy measured after practice and before retention and transfer was increased by both AS and EE. Thus, supporting learners' need for autonomy by given them a small choice--even though it was not directly related to task performance--and enhancing their performance expectancies appeared to independently influence learning.

Effects of generic versus non-generic feedback on motor learning in children.

Non-generic feedback refers to a specific event and implies that performance is malleable, while generic feedback implies that task performance reflects an inherent ability. The present study examined the influences of generic versus non-generic feedback on motor performance and learning in 10-year-old children. In the first experiment, using soccer ball kicking at a target as a task, providing participants with generic feedback resulted in worse performance than providing non-generic feedback, after both groups received negative feedback. The second experiment measured more permanent effects. Results of a retention test, performed one day after practicing a throwing task, showed that participants who received non-generic feedback during practice outperformed the generic feedback group, after receiving a negative feedback statement. The findings demonstrate the importance of the wording of feedback. Even though different positive feedback statements may not have an immediate influence on performance, they can affect performance, and presumably individuals' motivation, when performance is (purportedly) poor. Feedback implying that performance is malleable, rather than due to an inherent ability, seems to have the potential to inoculate learners against setbacks--a situation frequently encountered in the context of motor performance and learning.