Outcome feedback (mere knowledge of results) impedes learning of complex tasks in the multiple-cue probability learning paradigm¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 1996 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Research based on the MCPL paradigm suggests that outcome feedback impedes learning of complex tasks and subsequently task performance. → Kluger 1996

Evidence¶

Kluger 1996¶

Kluger, A. N., & DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254-284. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.119.2.254

q2 · i? · quant-synthesis · r2

Narrative review attribution: the authors report, citing multiple MCPL-paradigm studies and a recent review by Balzer et al. (1989), that outcome feedback impedes complex-task learning, leading some researchers to question whether people can learn complex rules from feedback at all. No effect size is printed; the reviewed studies' designs are not described here.

"Research based on the MCPL paradigm suggests that outcome FI (mere KR) impedes learning of complex tasks and subsequently, task performance"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Feedback improves learning by a medium amount on average, but its effect varies widely with the information it carries, and a substantial share of feedback effects are negative — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Feedback Enhances Retrieval Practice — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Process goals lead to better skill acquisition for novices than outcome goals. — related
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