The feedforward method of teaching and learning is in contrast to its opposite, feedback, concerning human behavior because it focuses on learning in the future, whereas feedback uses information from a past event to provide reflection and the basis for behaving and thinking differently.
Feedforward is created by restructuring current component behaviors into what appears to be a new skill or level of performance.
The most productive advances in feedforward came from its association with videos that showed adaptive behavior (see Dowrick, 1983, pp.
[3][4] For example, a boy with autism role-plays squeezing a ball (stress management technique) instead of having a tantrum when his work is found imperfect by the teacher – or a selectively mute child is seen on video talking at school, by editing in footage of her talking at home (location disguised by use of a classroom backdrop).
By selectively editing a video, a clip was made that demonstrated the desired behavior and allowed the children to learn from their future successes.
By reference to its historical context of VSM, it became recognized that feedforward comprised component behaviors already in the repertoire, and that it could exist in forms other than videos.
Feedforward often works in concert with feedback loops for guidance systems in cybernetics or self-control in biology [citation needed].