Feedback

Feedback in psychology is a mechanism to provide someone with information or reactions about their thinking, emotions, or behavior toward guiding/enhancing future actions. Feedback is important for learning, motivation, and behavior modification — bridging past actions with future improvement. Psychologically effective feedback is: specific (precise, not vague, areas for improvement), timely (after action to be relevant and actionable), constructive (to inspire and foster a growth mindset), and evidence-based (directly observable rather than subjective opinion). Types:

• Information feedback to inform about their correctness, physical effect, or social/emotional impact
• Intrinsic feedback from within (personal reflection, physical sensation of movement).
• Extrinsic feedback from external sources (a coach, teacher, or test score).
• Positive feedback reinforces desired behavior, increases motivation and repeat actions.
• Negative (corrective) feedback identifies mistakes/areas for improvement to decrease undesirable behavior.