We learn from Our Mistakes - Don't We?

WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES. THE QUESTION IS,what - and how - do we learn from them?Most people view mistakes as events thatshould never have happened. An initialreaction to an error or mistake may be to cover one's tracksin order to hide the fact that a mistake was made. Denial isanother frequent reaction. For example, if you hear thehonking of an angry motorist, your first reaction will likelybe, "I didn't do anything!" Further reflection may lead you toquestion whether you really had, for example, signaled beforechanging lanes and might make you more conscious of doingso in the near future. In other words, mistakes can providevaluable feedback about one's skill level or understanding ofa task.This article focuses on research regarding the errors madeduring learning or performing perceptual-motor, cognitive,and motor tasks. The review is necessarily selective in coveragealthough broad in terms of the range of tasks addressed. I willdiscuss the roles of attention to and memory for errors inperformance and the consequences of errors on learning.In the human factors/ergonomics literature, a distinctionis often made between mistakes and slips of action, with theformer reflecting errors of deliberation and the latter resultingfrom so-called automatic behavior or the failure to maintainaction goals. In this article, the term mistake is used in a moregeneric sense and as a synonym for error