Choose to move: The motivational impact of autonomy support on motor learning
Open accessAbstract
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.
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Allowing participants to choose the color of golf balls they were putting led to more effective task learning than a yoked condition.
“In one experiment, allowing participants to choose the color of golf balls they were putting led to more effective task learning than a yoked condition.”
From Optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning: The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning (2016) · cites this paper as Lewthwaite et al., 2015
Even giving individuals choices incidental to the motor task has a positive effect on learning of that task.
“Importantly, even giving individuals choices that are incidental to the motor task has been demonstrated to have a positive effect on the learning of that task (Lewthwaite, Chiviacowsky, & Wulf, 2015).”
From Optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning: The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning (2016) · cites this paper as Lewthwaite, Chiviacowsky, & Wulf, 2015
Increased task interest and motivation to learn when learners are given a choice has been found.
“Increased task interest (Lewthwaite et al., 2015) and motivation to learn (Chiviacowsky, Wulf, Lewthwaite, & Campos, 2012) when learners are given a choice has indeed been found.”
From Optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning: The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning (2016) · cites this paper as Lewthwaite et al., 2015
In a second experiment, learning of a balance task was enhanced in a group given a choice related to one of two tasks they would practice afterwards and asked their opinion about which of two prints should be hung, relative to a yoked group.
“In a second experiment by Lewthwaite et al., the findings were even more compelling: The learning of a balance task (stabilometer) was enhanced in a group in which participants were given a choice related to one of two tasks they would practice afterwards and in which they were asked their opinion as to which of two prints of paintings should be hung in the laboratory.That is, relative to a yoked”
From Optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning: The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning (2016) · cites this paper as Lewthwaite et al., 2015
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References 49 · Cited by 183
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- McKay, B., Carter, M. J., & Ste-Marie, D. (2014, June). Self-controlled learning: A meta-analysis. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 36(Suppl), S43.
- Authors
- Lewthwaite, R., Chiviacowsky, S., Drews, R., & Wulf, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- Universidade Federal de Pelotas (BR)
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wulf, Gabriele
- Venue
- Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
- Published
- 2015-03-03
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1383-1388
- ISSN
- 1069-9384 (ISSN-L)
- 1531-5320
- OpenAlex
- W2000321557
- Cited by
- 183
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 31.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Scholarship - UNLV (University of Nevada Reno) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Sport Psychology and Performance
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
- Keywords
- autonomy support, motor learning, choice, basic psychological needs, motivation, golf putting, delayed retention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Choice Behavior, Color Perception, Postural Balance, Female, Golf, Humans, Male, Motivation, Motor Skills, Practice, Psychological, Retention, Psychology, Personal Autonomy, Young Adult
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