Press release under embargo until 30/10/25 10:00 UK time
We learn physical skills by feeling rewarded, even in the absence of a reward, finds new study
People master new physical skills, such as sports, crafts or controlling a vehicle while driving, by blending lessons learnt from both feedback on the amount of error they had in failures and the rewards of successes, even when reward cues are removed, according to a new study led by Dr Shlomi Haar from the University of Surrey.
Using a high-tech virtual reality pool setup, researchers from Surrey and Imperial College London had 32 participants play pool on a physical table while wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset that slightly changed the cue ball’s trajectory, forcing players to adapt.
In the study, published in npj science of learning, two different sessions took place, with different feedback given to each player taking part. In one session, players only got “error feedback”, with the balls disappearing before they could pocket them. In the other session, participants only got “reward feedback”, with successful shots being artificially shown pocketing, while failed shots gave no visual results. The goal was to see whether the brain would only use the type of feedback it was given.
However, the brain behaved differently. Even when the reward – pocketing the ball – was taken away in the “error feedback” condition, players still showed strong signs of using reward-based learning. They were seen to be finding their own “mini rewards”, such as observing the ball taking a correct-looking path. The brain wouldn’t ignore that key information, much like seasoned basketball players can anticipate a good shot before it goes through the hoop.
Measurements of brain activity confirmed this complex interaction, showing a mixed learning pattern, rather than separate processes as seen in past lab experiments. While players were seen to learn faster when focusing on errors, the underlying process in both conditions was always a blend of the two processes.
Dr Shlomi Haar, lead author and Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Surrey, said:
"The brain is a highly active detective, always seeking every available piece of information - whether it's seeing the mistake or anticipating success. Our findings suggest that the most effective learning embraces and strategically uses both error information and rewards together, and visual feedback interventions could be used to enhance it further.”
[ENDS]
Notes to editors
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Dr Shlomi Haar is available for interview, please contact mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk to arrange.
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The full paper is available upon request.
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Once published, the full paper will be available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-025-00373-8
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DOI: 10.1038/s41539-025-00373-8
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An image of Dr Haar is available upon request.
Journal
npj Science of Learning