The types of guidance (visual, verbal, manual, mechanical), the types of feedback (intrinsic, extrinsic, knowledge of results and performance), and matching each to the stage of learning.

A focused answer to OCR A-Level PE on guidance and feedback: the four types of guidance (visual, verbal, manual, mechanical) and their strengths and limits, the types of feedback (intrinsic, extrinsic, positive, negative, knowledge of results and knowledge of performance), and how a coach matches each to the stage of learning.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.810 min answerUpdated 2026-06-02

Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed

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Quick answer

Guidance helps a performer acquire a skill. Visual guidance (demonstrations, videos) gives a mental picture and suits beginners. Verbal guidance (instructions, cues) suits experienced performers who can interpret it, and works well alongside visual guidance. Manual guidance (physically supporting or moving the performer) builds confidence and safety but risks dependence and interferes with the feel. Mechanical guidance (using aids such as a harness or float) also aids safety but can create dependence. Feedback informs the next attempt: intrinsic (from the body) versus extrinsic (from outside), positive versus negative, and knowledge of results (the outcome) versus knowledge of performance (the quality of the movement). Beginners need frequent, positive, extrinsic feedback (mostly knowledge of results); autonomous performers rely on intrinsic feedback and knowledge of performance.

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What this dot point is asking
Types of guidance
Types of feedback
Matching guidance and feedback to the learner

What this dot point is asking

OCR wants you to describe the four types of guidance and their strengths and limits, describe the types of feedback, and explain how a coach matches guidance and feedback to the performer's stage of learning.

Types of guidance

Key fact

There are four types of guidance. Visual guidance (a demonstration, a video, a diagram) gives the performer a mental picture and suits the cognitive stage, but it must be accurate and not contain too much information. Verbal guidance (spoken instructions and cues) suits more experienced performers who can interpret it, and is most effective when paired with visual guidance, but a beginner can be overloaded by it. Manual guidance (physically supporting or moving the performer, such as supporting a gymnast) builds confidence and safety and conveys the feel of the movement, but risks dependence and can interfere with kinaesthesis. Mechanical guidance (an aid such as a harness, float or bowling machine) also aids safety and confidence, but can create dependence and an unrealistic feel.

Types of feedback

Matching guidance and feedback to the learner

Too much extrinsic feedback can create dependence and prevent the performer developing their own error-detection, so as the learner advances the coach deliberately withdraws it.

Choosing guidance and feedback for a learner

Identify the learner's stage and the skill

A beginner is learning a front crawl stroke in swimming, a continuous, gross skill that carries some risk in deep water. They are in the cognitive stage.

Choose the guidance

Use visual guidance (a clear demonstration and underwater video) to build the mental picture, plus mechanical guidance (a float) and manual support to ensure safety and confidence. Keep verbal guidance brief, since a beginner is easily overloaded.

Choose the feedback type

Give frequent, positive, extrinsic feedback, mostly knowledge of results (did they swim the width?), simply and immediately, because the swimmer cannot yet feel their own errors.

Plan how it changes

As the swimmer reaches the associative stage, shift to knowledge of performance on the stroke technique, withdraw the float and manual support to avoid dependence, and encourage them to use the feel of the water (intrinsic feedback). State that matching the support to the stage is what makes it effective.

Common traps

Confusing knowledge of results and knowledge of performance: Knowledge of results is about the outcome (the score); knowledge of performance is about the quality of the movement (the technique). Beginners need more of the former, advanced performers more of the latter.
Giving advanced feedback to beginners: A beginner needs frequent, positive, simple, extrinsic feedback; detailed knowledge of performance overwhelms them. Match the feedback to the stage.
Forgetting the downsides of manual and mechanical guidance: Both aid safety and confidence but risk dependence and an unrealistic feel, so they must be withdrawn as the learner progresses.
Saying intrinsic feedback suits beginners: Beginners cannot yet feel their own errors, so they need extrinsic feedback; intrinsic feedback becomes useful in the associative and autonomous stages.

Exam-style practice questions

Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.

OCR 20194 marksCompare visual and manual guidance for a beginner learning a gymnastics vault, giving one advantage and one disadvantage of each.

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A Component 02 Section A application question. Marks for an advantage and disadvantage of each type applied to the vault.

Award marks for: visual guidance (a demonstration or video) shows the beginner a clear mental picture of the whole vault, which suits the cognitive stage; a disadvantage is that it must be accurate and may contain too much information for a beginner to absorb, and it cannot convey the feel of the movement. Manual guidance (physically supporting or moving the gymnast through the vault) builds confidence, ensures safety on a risky skill and gives the feel of the correct movement; disadvantages are that the performer can become dependent on the support, the support can interfere with the natural feel (kinaesthesis), and it allows only one performer at a time.

Markers reward one genuine advantage and one disadvantage of each type, applied to the safety and learning demands of the vault.

OCR 20226 marksExplain the difference between knowledge of results and knowledge of performance, and how the feedback a coach gives should change as a performer moves from the cognitive to the autonomous stage.

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A Component 02 Section A extended-response question. Markers reward the feedback definitions and the change across the stages.

Award marks for: knowledge of results is feedback about the outcome of the action (whether the shot scored), useful for the beginner to know if they succeeded; knowledge of performance is feedback about the quality of the movement that produced it (the technique), useful for refining the skill. In the cognitive stage the performer needs frequent, positive, extrinsic feedback, mostly knowledge of results, given simply and immediately, because they cannot yet detect their own errors. In the associative stage, feedback becomes more about knowledge of performance and the performer begins to use intrinsic feedback. In the autonomous stage the performer relies mainly on intrinsic feedback and detailed knowledge of performance, with the coach intervening less, to fine-tune the already automatic skill.

A top answer distinguishes the two feedback types and tracks the shift from extrinsic knowledge of results to intrinsic knowledge of performance across the stages.

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Sources & how we know this

OCR A Level Physical Education (H555) specification — OCR (2016)