Computerized training systems offer a promising new direction in the training of executive functions, in part because they can easily be designed to offer feedback to learners. Yet, feedback is a double-edged sword, serving a positive motivational role while at the same time carrying the risk that learners may become dependent on the feedback they receive. The current research suggests that computerized training systems may take advantage of the motivational effects of feedback without the unwanted risk by making feedback available while not requiring trainees to access it. Specifically, we hypothesized that the mere availability of feedback would improve performance even if trainees never or almost never made use of it. We tested this hypothesis using a simple puzzle completion task, putting the focus on executive functions by instructing participants to complete each puzzle with a minimal number of rotations and moves. Two training sessions in which the availability of feedback was manipulated were followed by a transfer test and a visual perception test. The results show that the availability of feedback improved performance, in terms of the smaller number of excess rotations and moves performed during both the training sessions and the transfer task.

Young children depend on the non-symbolic representation of numbers for their numeracy understanding and decision-making. The objective of the current research was to examine whether the use of an augmented virtuality (AV) system to represent numbers as physical objects, compared to representing them only visually on a computer screen, will improve children’s numeracy decision-making. The question was evaluated by comparing children’s decisions to buy more profitable versus non-profitable products, as well as their total profit, when the coins and the coin machine are real (AV system group) compared to their decisions when using a system in which the coins and the coin machine are virtual (virtual system group). Two between-participants groups of children aged 6–8 participated in this study, with 30 children in each group. The results demonstrated that in the AV system group, the children invested more proportionately in the profitable versus non-profitable products, while in the virtual system group, the opposite occurred. As a result of their better decision-making, the total profits of the AV system group were higher than those of the virtual system group. The current findings are an interesting addition to the existing literature on the contribution of virtual reality and augmented reality systems in improving mathematical learning.