IX. Principle 6: Feedback

Question 1

Feedback works well when _______ …. [Ultralearning]

Answer 1

… it provides useful information that can guide future learning.

I.e. if it tells you what’s wrong and how to fix it.

Question 2

Feedback often backfires _________ … [Ultralearning]

Answer 2

…when it is aimed at a person’s ego.

This includes praise.

Question 3

As an ultralearner, what are 2 things you must do (or not do) with feedback?

Answer 3

1. Do not overreact to feedback that is not constructive.

2. Make sure to apply the feedback correctly to avoid a dip in motivation.

Question 4

What are the 3 main types of feedback? [Ultralearning]

Answer 4

1. Outcome feedback (are you doing it wrong?)
2. Informational feedback (what are you doing wrong?)
3. Corrective feedback (how can you fix what you’re doing wrong?)

Question 5

How come outcome feedback be used to improve learning? [ultralearning]

Answer 5

Providing a motivational benchmark, giving you updates on your progress.

This can be used to assess the relative merit of different methods you’re trying.

Question 6

What is an example of outcome feedback in ultralearning?

Answer 6

• Score on a test
• Letter grade, A B C etc
• Did the ball go through the hoop or not?

Question 7

In ultralearning, what is informational feedback?

Answer 7

When you know what you are doing wrong, but not necessarily how to fix it.

Question 8

In ultralearning, what is outcome feedback?

Answer 8

When you know you’re doing the task incorrectly, but you don’t know where you’re slipping up.

Question 9

What are some examples of informational feedback? [ultralearning]

Answer 9

• Comedian, audience not laughing at particular jokes

- Programmer types some code and gets an error message

Question 10

What is Corrective Feedback? [ultralearning]

Where do you often have to go for this type of feedback?

Answer 10

Shows you what you’re doing wrong, and tells you how to fix the problem.

To a coach or mentor.

Question 11

What are 2 common pitfalls when applying feedback in ultralearning?

Answer 11

1. Trying to level up feedback when it is not possible.
   eg. Trying to turn outcome feedback (did you like this video game?) into informational feedback (what didn’t you like about it?)
2. Trying to apply corrective feedback when there is no expert to ensure the correct approach.
   e. g. Golfer ‘I’m hooking it, so I better do xyz’

Question 12

How quick should feedback be? [ultralearning]

Answer 12

The author recommends fast feedback (so long as it does not come before you’ve tried your best to solve the problem, which would amount to review).

In laboratory settings, some feedback delays have seemed favourable. The author puts this down to the delayed feedback providing a spaced exposure.

Question 13

In ultralearning, what are the 4 tactics to improve your feedback?

Answer 13

1. Noise cancellation
2. Hitting the difficulty sweet spot
3. Metafeedback
4. High intensity, rapid feedback

Question 14

What is noise cancellation in regards to feedback? [ultralearning]

Answer 14

Filtering out the information that is not useful and shouldn’t be overreacted to, in order to focus on the useful information.

Question 15

How do you hit the difficulty sweet spot to improve feedback quality when ultralearning?

Answer 15

Adjust the environment so you can’t predict whether you’ll succeed or fail.

If you fail consistently, simplify the task and make it easier.
If you succeed consistently, make it harder or make your standards more strict.

Question 16

In ultralearning, what is metafeedback?

What is one way to use metafeedback to improve learning?

Answer 16

This is feedback on the effectiveness of your learning strategy.

Test and compare between different study methods to see which works better. This involves active experimentation.

Question 17

What is an important type of metafeedback? [ultralearning]

Answer 17

An important example is your learning rate, which can be measured by how fast you’re learning, i.e. how quickly you’re improving in one aspect of your skill.

Question 18

In ultralearning, what is meant by High-intensity, rapid feeedback?

Answer 18

To get a lot more feedback a lot more often. Baptism of fire.

Initially uncomfortable, but the high volume decreases this discomfort more quickly than other tactics.

E.g. Diving into many public speaking gigs when you want to improve at public speaking.