The Effect of Self – Control and Instructor- Control Feedbacks after Good and Poor Trials on Acquisition and Learning of a Throwing Task in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Self-controlled feedback is a kind of augmented feedback which is represented by the request of learner. The aim of the present study was to compare self–control and instructor-control feedbacks after good and poor trials on acquisition and learning of a throwing task in children with cerebral palsy. 60 children with cerebral palsy (age range: 7-12 years old) were selected by convenience sampling method from special schools in Tehran city. Participants were randomly divided into three groups: instructor-control feedback after good trials, instructor-control feedback after poor trials, and self-control feedback. At the end of the acquisition phase, participants of self–control group were divided into 2 groups (self–control feedback after good trials and self–control feedback after poor trails). One-way ANOVA test and Tukey post hoc test were used at (P<0.05). In the acquisition phase, no significant differences were observed among the groups (P=0.64). But self-control feedback group after good trials outperformed all groups in retention (P=0.001) and transfer (P=0.001) phases. In instructor-control condition, among those participants receiving feedback after good trials and in feedback received after poor trials condition, self-control subjects showed more progress. Thus, due to the low capacity of information processing in children, motivational role of feedback in self-control condition and after good trials leads to their better learning.