How children learn from positive and negative performance feedback lays at the foundation of successful learning and is therefore of great importance for educational practice. fMRI data of 8-9-year-olds, 11-13-year-olds and 18-25-year-olds demonstrate a qualitative difference in how children and adults use performance feedback. To adjust behavior efficiently, adults use brain regions that are important for goal-directed behavior following negative feedback, signaling response adjustment. Young children, in contrast, show activation in the same brain regions following positive feedback, signaling continuation of behavior. The neural activation patterns found in 11-13-year-olds indicate a transition around this age towards an increased influence of negative feedback on performance adjustment. The results have implications for brain-based learning programs, because they point towards a differential sensitivity to signals that facilitate learning.