Have you ever bowled a string of strikes that seems like it came out of nowhere? There might be more to such streaks than pure luck, according to a study that offers new clues as to how the brain learns from positive and negative experiences.
Training monkeys on a two-choice visual task, researchers found that the animals’ brains kept track of recent successes and failures. A correct answer had impressive effects: it improved neural processing and sent the monkeys’ performance soaring in the next trial. But if a monkey made a mistake in one trial, even after mastering the task, it performed around chance level in the next trial—in other words, it was thrown off by mistakes instead of learning from them.
“Success has a much greater influence on the brain than failure,” says Massachusetts Institute of Technology neuroscientist Earl Miller, who led the research. He believes the findings apply to many aspects of daily life in which failures are left unpunished but achievements are rewarded in one way or another—such as when your teammates cheer your strikes at the bowling lane. The pleasurable feeling that comes with the successes is brought about by a surge in the neurotransmitter dopamine. By telling brain cells when they have struck gold, the chemical apparently signals them to keep doing whatever they did that led to success. As for failures, Miller says, we might do well to pay more attention to them, consciously encouraging our brain to learn a little more from failure than it would by default.
Note: This story was originally published with the title "Why Success Breeds Success"
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15 Comments
Add CommentWhy was there no mention of B.F. Skinner in this piece? The concept of positive reinforcement for success has been around for a long time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSeesm this is somewhat related to "streaks". Like golfers who go out and have a tremendous showing... but next week are cold as can be. It is as is some type of short term muscle memory is in play... but a failure causes one to adjust, possibly un-ncecessarily, and throw off good form or prior successes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis makes sense. Learning is essentially a feedback process. The problem is that there usually are a huge number of ways to do things wrong, so a mistake dos not teach you much. So it does not make sense to make a big deal about errors. But when you get everything right! That is when your brain should do its best to remember everything and encourage repeats.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn the other hand, this also may explain where superstitions and mistaken beliefs come from. Something goes right purely by accident rather than due to your own actions, but your brain strongly reinforces what you did as the “right” thing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnybody been to a football game and heard the crowd change the direction of the game?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think the brain just feels more comfortable when its mind and body come together and perform tasks in accordance to the brains highest capability. Like someone was saying about a golfer, or any sports player, or even someone sitting at home, by themselves, playing guitar hero or something, there comes a time when the person playing does everything right for an extended period of time, and we hear things like "i felt unconscious". I think that means that the person didn't have to try, or strain, very hard, mentally, on the task at hand, and it just came "naturally." Perhaps the best players or performers, when stumbling, regain their steps better because they know they shouldn't think hard on it and must move on. Those who are average players, dwell on mistakes, and wonder how they could let it happen, and while they think about it, they get beat again.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOverall, I think its just the brain feeling good in doing what its capable of, and disliking when its not performing to peak efficiency. Who knows what amazing tasks the human mind can perform when unperturbed by outside (or inside) distractions.
the article you read was only opposite if they were talking about the same things. I believe you read the article about learning more when you fail the test before you are given the material, which is more geared towards the academic learning. this article is talking about learning how to control your body in a better way, which is physical learning. the ultimate difference between knowing HOW to do some thing, and being ABLE to do something, most people know HOW to hit a baseball but few people can hit one at 90mph.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI read that other article too, and both articles don't go to any real pains to be clear what type of learning they are discussing... the title alone is misleading.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf one type of learning works in an opposite way from another type based on success/failure, I would think that would be worth mentioning in the articles.
re: RUMIthought at 9:42 PM 2 days ago:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisyou rock .....i luv not just what you said but how it was put
I interpret the results differently than Earl Miller.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would like to see experimental results comparing first-time "chance" success to success that came after failure. I would hypothesize that the "chance" success elicited a similar amount (or less) brain activity compared to a first-time failure. And further, I would hypothesize that the more failure that occurs before the success, the stronger the reaction to the success would be. Therefore, it is the completeness of the failures and success together that make up the learning process.
This is completely contradictory to an article released two weeks ago that said people learn better from failure than success.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMake up your minds, people!
This is fine news;
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisyet seems directly opposite to the controversy of last month.
now I see ya'll noticed the same.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisok. We must decide.
I vote for this one.
that other mess is just too "spooky".
This is fine news;
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisyet seems directly opposite to the controversy of last month.
Next time I'll think twice before making a mistake.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this