Movement takes more brainwork than you might think. So says psychologist Katinka van der Kooij, who studies how we can improve our movements and stay motivated to do so. One of the lessons? Failing now and then is motivating.
You don’t move just with your body, but also with your brain. Katinka van der Kooij, a psychologist in the department of Human Movement Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, investigates how successes and failures affect our learning process when it comes to movement, and how to stay motivated to keep moving.
How do we learn new movements? In this video, Van der Kooij explains more. One of her conclusions is that failing is important. “Participants who had just failed started trying out a lot more in their movements. And trying things out leads to learning,” she says. Failure is not only important for learning but also for motivation, Van der Kooij explains. “Because if something doesn’t work out once, it makes the next success more valuable.”
(Re)learning movements through games
Van der Kooij collaborates with a company that makes rehabilitation games. Through these games, patients (re)learn certain movements while the games simultaneously work to solve motivation problems. Exercises at home may not always be performed correctly, and games like these help keep up the motivation, according to Van der Kooij. “In a game, you can motivate someone by scoring points for good movements.”
But how difficult should a game be? Or in this case: at what percentage of the correct movements should the player score points to keep up motivation levels? Van der Kooij explains more in this video. Too much of a challenge isn’t motivating, but a task that’s too easy isn’t motivating either. According to Van der Kooij: “Success is a reward. If you know beforehand that you won’t be able to do something, there’s no point in even starting. But if you’re always successful, that success becomes less valuable. It’s more valuable to win a tennis match against a good opponent than against your neighbour’s young daughter.”
Failing in order to learn and stay motivated
Van der Kooij’s experiments show that an 80% success rate is optimal to stay motivated. That’s the point at which challenge and skill are well balanced. It’s good to fail sometimes, and that’s fortunate, because failing also offers the chance to learn.
How can we draw inspiration from this if we want to keep moving ourselves? Setting a goal can work, but it must be achievable, says Van der Kooij. Imagine you want to start running; aiming for a marathon straightaway isn’t a good idea. Don’t be too hard on yourself either, she continues. “Allow yourself to adjust your goal if you find you’re no longer feeling motivated. But don’t make it too easy for yourself either. Try running with someone who is faster, for instance.” According to Van der Kooij: “If you’re no longer feeling motivated, consider whether the exercise is too easy or too difficult for you, and then increase or reduce the challenge in small steps.”