Abstract

Instructing students to set goals, self monitor, self-evaluate and self-reinforce has improved behavior and academic performance in a wide range of treatment and educational situations (Barros, 2010; Anderson, 2005). The purpose of present study was to compare the effects of augmented feedback with imposition frequency on self-control and yoked conditions in acquiring and retaining the accuracy of throwing in fifth grade elementary school children. A total of 160 children with age range of 10-11 years based on the kind of feedback control they received (self-control / yoked control (non self-control)) and gender (boy/ girl) were randomly assigned to 4 groups of 40 subjects and performed the task that required to toss the sandbag (100 gr.) at rated concentric circular targets by eyes closed and non dominant arm. The participants in self-control group, received feedback at any necessary time and frequency they asked while the yoked subjects received feedback on the same trials as their self-control counterparts asked for. In acquisition phase, subjects in each group performed 60 trials in 3 sessions each consisting of 20 trials and received feedback based on the type of feedback of their own group (self-control/ yoked control). Both groups participated in retention phase which consisted of 10 trials in 48 hours right after the end of acquisition phase, and no feedback was given to neither groups. In order to examine the effect of high and low feedback frequency to test the intended hypothesis, each group was then divided in two equal high and low feedback frequency subgroups. To analyze the data, descriptive and inferential statistics (ANOVA) were used. The findings indicated that in each of the four groups of self-control and yoked, the subgroups of high feedback frequency compared with the low feedback frequency in both of the acquisition and retention phases significantly acquired better results. The F- values were reported to be significant at P<0.05 level. In conclusion, this study found that high feedback frequency had positive effect on learning process than low feedback frequency. It means that elementary school children at this age are more prone to learn simple motor skills if they are provided the opportunity to receive high feedback frequency. It is, therefore, recommended that physical education teachers who work with younger children use augmented feedback especially with high frequency to improve effective learning.