Showing papers on "Perceptual learning published in 1991"

Where practice makes perfect in texture discrimination: evidence for primary visual cortex plasticity

Abstract: In terms of functional anatomy, where does learning occur when, for a basic visual discrimination task, performance improves with practice (perceptual learning)? We report remarkable long-term learning in a simple texture discrimination task where learning is specific for retinal input. This learning is (i) local (in a retinotopic sense), (ii) orientation specific but asymmetric (it is specific for background but not for target-element orientation), and (iii) strongly monocular (there is little interocular transfer of learning). Our results suggest that learning involves experience-dependent changes at a level of the visual system where monocularity and the retinotopic organization of the visual input are still retained and where different orientations are processed separately. These results can be interpreted in terms of local plasticity induced by retinal input in early visual processing in human adults, presumably at the level of orientation-gradient sensitive cells in primary visual cortex.

Fast Perceptual Learning in Visual Hyperacuity

Abstract: In many different spatial discrimination tasks, the human visual system exhibits hyperacuity-level performance by evaluating spatial relations with the precision of a fraction of a photoreceptor''s diameter. We propose that this impressive performance depends in part on a fast learning process that uses relatively few examples and occurs at an early processing stage in the visual pathway. We demonstrate that it is possible to synthesize from a small number of examples a simple (HyperBF) network that attains the required performance level. We verify with psychophysical experiments some key predictions of our conjecture. We show that fast stimulus-specific learning indeed takes place in the human visual system and that this learning does not transfer between two slightly different hyperacuity tasks.

Perceptual and associative learning

Abstract: Associative theory and the phenomena of perceptual learning Habituation Latent inhibition as reduced associability Latent inhibition as associative interference Acquired distinctiveness: mediation and differentiation Acquired distinctiveness: attentional factors Discrimination after stimulus exposure Learning and the modification of stimulus representations References Indexes.

Long-lasting perceptual priming and semantic learning in amnesia: a case experiment.

Abstract: An investigation of perceptual priming and semantic learning in the severely amnesic subject K.C. is reported. He was taught 64 three-word sentences and tested for his ability to produce the final word of each sentence. Despite a total lack of episodic memory, he exhibited (a) strong perceptual priming effects in word-fragment completion, which were retained essentially in full strength for 12 months, and (b) independent of perceptual priming, learning of new semantic facts, many of which were also retained for 12 months. K.C.'s semantic learning may be at least partly attributable to repeated study trials and minimal interference during learning. The findings suggest that perceptual priming and semantic learning are subserved by two memory systems different from episodic memory and that both systems (perceptual representation and semantic memory) are at least partially preserved in some amnesic subjects.

An Odyssey in Learning and Perception

Abstract: Part 1 Experimental psychology in the 30s (1932-1942): bilateral transfer of the conditioned response in the human subject, J.J. Gibson and G. Raffel retention and the interpolated task, with james J. Gibson sensory generalization with voluntary reactions a systematic application of the concepts of generalizaton and differentiation to verbal learning retroactive inhibition as a function of degree of generalization between tasks retrospect and prospect - are theories recycles?. Part 2 Comparative research on learning and development (1952-1970): the role of shock in reinforcement the effect of prolonged exposure to visually presented patterns on learning to discriminate them, with R.D. Walk the effectiveness of prolonged exposure to cutouts vs. painted patterns for facilitation of discrimination behaviour of light and dark reared rats on a visual cliff, with R.D. Walk and T.J. Tighe development of perception - discrimination of depth compared with discrimination of graphic symbols, reprinted from J.C. Wright and J. Kagan (eds.) the development of perception as an adaptive process, Eleanor J. Gibson retrospect and prosepct - comparative psycholoogy and animal cognition. Part 3 Perception - psychophysics to transormations (1954-1959): the effect of training on absolute estimation of distance over the ground, with R. Bergman the effect of prior training with a scale of distance on absolute and relative judgments of distance over ground, with R. Bergman and J. Purdy distance judgment by the method of fractionation, with J. Purdy continuous perspective transformations and the perception of ridig motion with J.J. Gibson motion parallax as a determinant of perceived depth with J.J. Gibson, O.W. Smith and H. flock retrospect and prospect - psychophysics to computation. Part 4 Perceptual learning (1955-1969): perceptual learning - differentiation of enrichment? with J.J. Gibson reply by L. Postman - association theory and perceptual learning what is learned in perceptual learning? a reply to professor postman perceptual learning perceptual development and the reduction of uncertainty trends in perceptual development retrospect and prospect - the coming of age of perceptual development. Part 5 Years of significance - research on reading (1965-1977): learning to read confusion matrices for graphic patterns obtained with a latency measure with F. Schapiro and A. Yonas the ontogeny of reading perceptual learning and the theory of word perception how perception really develops: a veiw from outside the network in D. Laberge and S.J. Samuels (eds.) reading in retrospect - perception, cognition or both?. Part contents.

Simulating the ‘Other-race Effect* as a Problem in Perceptual Learning

Abstract: We report a series of simulations on the well-known ‘other-race effect’. We trained an autoassociative network on a majority and a minority race of faces, and tested the model's ability to process ...

Perceptual learning in maze discriminations

Abstract: In Experiment 1, rats were trained on a discrimination between rubber- and sandpaper-covered arms of a maze after one group had been pre-exposed to these intra-maze cues. Pre-exposure facilitated subsequent discrimination learning, unless the discrimination was made easier by adding further discriminative stimuli, when it now significantly retarded learning. In Experiment 2, rats were trained on an extra-maze spatial discrimination, again after one group, but not another, had been pre-exposed to the extra-maze landmarks. Here too, pre-exposure facilitated subsequent discrimination learning, unless the discrimination was made substantially easier by arranging that the two arms between which rats had to choose were always separated by 135 degrees. The results of both experiments can be explained by supposing that perceptual learning depends on the presence of features common to S+ and S-.

Perceptual Development and Auditory Backward Recognition Masking.

Abstract: Three amplitude-discrimination experiments within a backward masking task were carried out to study whether young children have a slower rate of perceptual processing than do adults Rate of processing was defined within an explicit model of perceptual performance that allows the investigator to determine if rate is responsible for developmental differences in auditory discrimination A developmental difference in discrimination ability was compensated for by increasing the psychophysical difference between the test tones in the backward masking task No developmental differences in rate of perceptual processing were observed A quantitative model of perceptual processing gave similar estimates for the rate of perceptual processing in children and adult subjects Although there are differences in discrimination ability, there appear to be no differences in rate of perceptual processing for children and adults In the present study, we examined the development during childhood of auditory perceptual processing, auditory discrimination in particular Our concern was with the temporal course of the initial stage of processing involved in encoding and perceptual recognition There is a popular belief that young children have a slower rate of perceptual processing than do older children for both visual (eg, Blake, 1974; Morrison, Holmes, & Haith, 1974) and auditory (Tallal, 1973) information The consequences of such age differences would be particularly significant in the case of auditory processing That is, in visual pro

Perceptual learning following a long-lasting tactile reversal.

Abstract: Crossing 2 adjacent fingers produces a distorted perception when 2 tactile stimuli are touched to the crossed fingertips. This is because a given pair of fingers has a functional range of action within which spatial perception is correct (uncrossed fingers) and beyond which perceived location of tactile stimuli is wrong (crossed fingers). The present study tested the possibility that this range of action could be modified following a long-lasting crossing. Therefore, the functional range of action of the 2nd and 3rd fingers was tested every month in 6 volunteers who maintained the finger crossing for as long as 6 months. The results show that after a variable period of time the range of action was enlarged such that spatial perception was correct with crossed fingers as well. The perceptual organization of the human hand therefore depends on experience and is not rigidly determined on a genetic basis.

Auditory perceptual learning and the cochlear implant.

Abstract: Recent studies of the perception of complex nonspeech sounds have shown that individual parts of spectral-temporal waveforms become more salient through experience or selective training. One consequence of this is that the same sound can be perceived quite differently, depending on prior experience and also on the listener's expectations. The time course of learning to identify initially unfamiliar speech sounds by normal-hearing listeners has been shown to extend over many months, possibly even years, before reaching a stable high level of performance. If implant users or users of other types of speech aids (acoustic hearing aids, vibrotactile aids) are required to learn to interpret sounds as unfamiliar as the nonspeech sounds used in research are to normal listeners, similar lengthy experience should be required for them to achieve maximum performance. Why this has not been the case in some clinical studies is a puzzle. A possible explanation is that speech perception strongly depends on abilities other than sensory acuity or resolving power. Studies of individual differences in auditory temporal and spectral acuity have not shown strong correlations between individual differences in those abilities and individual differences in speech perception. It is argued that one way to interpret this observation is that differences in the ability to hear speech (as by two hearing-impaired listeners with the same audiogram) may be the result of central differences in the ability to infer an original stimulus from its fragments; this ability may be independent of the sensory modality in which the information is presented.

Learning the invariants of a perceptual motor skill.

Abstract: The concept of invariant relative timing has typically been associated with the concept of a generalized motor programme. The present study approaches the phenomenon of invariant relative timing from the perspective of learning. The underlying question of concern for this study was, "What is learned." The specific question was whether relative timing is one of the essential properties of movement that is learned during skill acquisition. In the present experiment, subjects were given extensive practice in learning to track and reproduce a criterion waveform using a joystick control for their response. In order to test whether subjects learn the relative timing of a movement, they were transferred to tracking waveforms that were identical to the criterion in terms of relative timing, but different in terms of absolute timing. Measurements were taken on all waveforms in two conditions: (a) in a pursuit tracking condition where subjects were temporally constrained by the stimulus, and (b) in a reproduction condition where subjects' timing was not constrained. The outcome from both conditions gives support to the idea that humans learn invariant relative timing during the acquisition of a motor skill.

Perceptual training with cues for hazard detection in off-road driving

Abstract: This study explores the research hypothesis that perceptual learning could occur with visual exposure to a repeating alternation between 2-D vs 3-D video images of terrain hazards typically encountered in off-road driving of ground vehicles. In individual sessions, each of the nine untrained test subjects was shown 20 off-road terrain-hazard scenes on a color video display. Each hazard was shown first in 2-D mode, then in 3-D mode, and then with 2-D/3-D mode alternating on the video screen. In 2-D mode, only one of the 20 terrain hazards was perceived by two of the nine subjects, whereas all 20 terrain hazards were immediately perceived by all subjects when the display switched over to 3-D mode. A post-test presented mirror-image versions of the same 20 hazards in 2-D only, to determine if the previous 2-D/3- D alternation treatment improved the ability to detect terrain hazards in 2-D mode. At the end of their session, test subjects were given a questionnaire asking them to rate the degree of perceptual training resulting from 2-D/3-D alternation. All 20 subjects reported that the 2-D/3- D alternation improved their sensitivity to the monocular cues of terrain hazards presented on a 2-D video display. The implications that can be drawn from this preliminary study are: (1) in off-road driving by means of a conventional 2-D video display, operators will fail to perceive many significant terrain hazards; (2) however, with a 3-D video display, operators will immediately perceive most terrain hazards and will interpret terrain contours easily and accurately; (3) a more extensive experiment is indicated to formally determine the extent of the perceptual training that can be obtained by 2-D/3-D alternation.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Acquisition and retention of perceptual learning and the horizontal-vertical illusion.

Abstract: The present study examined procedure-specific differences in the acquisition and retention of perceptual learning using four forms of the Horizontal-Vertical illusion. Training to criterion was conducted using intertrial feedback, continued visual inspection, or yoked-control procedures. Retention of perceptual learning was assessed at posttraining intervals ranging from 1 minute to 1 month. Subjects trained with feedback achieved criterion in fewer trials and showed greater accuracy and short-term retention of perceptual learning on the inverted-T figure and the 1-in. vertical line-production task. The present results show that the correction of inaccurate strategic factors most likely represents the temporary acquisition of compensatory strategies that facilitate performance on simple perceptual-motor skills tasks.

Brand frequency and product involvement: The application of a pc‐based perceptual learning routine to psychology and marketing

Abstract: This article describes a set of procedures that were developed for implementing perceptual learning studies on IBM PCs. The routines permit the display of pictorial and alphanumeric graphic images in 320 × 200 graphics mode, using 4 colors from a 16-color palette. One of the perceptual learning routines—a dot clarification routine—is applied in a study of brand frequency and product involvement as a demonstration of the usefulness of the procedure to issues in psychology and marketing. Perceptual identification was significantly faster for studied items than for nonstudied ones, for high-frequency brands than for low-frequency ones, and for high-involvement products than for low-involvement ones. None of the interactions were significant. We also discuss other potential applications of the perceptual learning procedures to issues in psychology and marketing.

Cognitive and brain mechanisms in perceptual learning

Abstract: Considerable work has been done on mapping out the mental organization of pitch in music (e.g., Dowling, 1978; Krumhansl, 1990). Studies suggest that much of this psychological structure exists even for subjects who have had no explicit musical training (Bharucha & Stoeckig, 1986). Furthermore, the data that point to such mental structures cannot be accounted for solely on the basis of the spectral content of music (Bharucha & Stoeckig, 1987). These and other findings suggest that the musical regularities of a culture are learned through passive perceptual exposure.

An examination of human‐figure drawings of kindergarten boys and girls before and after short‐term instruction∗

Abstract: All to many experiences rich with new information are provided to young children without interactions with them to assist in their perceptual development. In addition, not enough guided transfer of new knowledge to practical situation is provided to young children. Short‐term instruction that incorporates these features in the approach used can be effective in promoting children's visual training and perceptual skills. In the study being reported, following this type of instruction Kindergarten boys and girls did increase in detail and number as well as types of units used in their human figure drawings. Instruction that includes time for in depth discussions about objects so that children have an understanding about the relationships between units and human figure characteristics, and time to practice the new information immediately following instruction can be quite effective in improving children's perceptual understandings and their art expressions [drawings]. ∗This article is based on findings report...

Computer-assisted comparison of melodic and rhythmic discrimination skills in hearing-impaired and normally hearing children: A pilot study

Abstract: For a number of years, the sense of hearing has been granted particular attention as an important factor in the perception and conceptualization of time (Rileigh & Odom, 1972). In fact, some have labeled hearing as the “time sense,” suggesting that we learn much about the sequence of events through time as we hear a stream of auditory cues. Furthermore, the ability to perceive changes in frequency and melodic patterns has been typically assigned to the auditory system. Complicating this picture is the belief that sense of time and the ability to perceive complex rhythmic and melodic patterns develop with increasing maturation and exposure to auditory information. If these theories are indeed correct, are persons who have early and severe hearing losses at risk for achieving these very basic perceptual skills? If so, what interventions need to be undertaken? To date, a relatively small body of research exists comparing the rhythmic and melodic perception of hearing-impaired persons with normally hearing individuals. The bulk of studies have been conducted with young children of elementary school age, and the greater number of extant studies examine rhythmic perception. In a study comparing hard-of-hearing children with normally hearing children (Sterritt, Camp, & Lippman, 1966), nine children with hearing losses and nine normally hearing children reproduced temporal patterns created by an above-threshold tone or by a flashing light on a telegraph key. The authors concluded that the hard-of-hearing children’s performance on a rhythmic reproduction task was poorer than that of normally hearing children. This decrement was attributed to early auditory deprivation, which the authors believed influenced perception for not only auditory patterns but also for visual temporal patterns. Davis and Hardick (1981) noted that for children with severe and profound hearing losses, the developmental history for auditory perception is believed to begin at the age the children are aided; children of identical chronological ages may have different length auditory histories. In a later test of rhythmic perception (Rileigh & Odom, 1972), deaf and normally hearing subjects were asked to reproduce visually-produced rhythmic patterns that varied in length and complexity. The outcome suggested that a developmental continuum of skills relating to rhythmic perception existed, with hearing-impaired subjects demonstrating a later mastery of more complex patterns than the normally hearing peers. In other words, rather than being deviant in rhythmic perception, children with hearing losses may develop similar rhythmic skills at a later age. Limited exposure to auditory signals might be one explanation for this delay.

Teaching social perceptual skills to students with learning disabilities

Abstract: We investigated the effects of descriptive feedback and reinforcement on the acquisition and exhibition of social perceptual skills in three students with identified learning disabilities and social perceptual deficits. The students rated their teacher's affect based on six emotions, and received feedback regarding the accuracy of their ratings plus reinforcement for accurate ratings. Descriptive feedback and reinforcement resulted in a mean gain of 66.00% in the students' social perceptual skills, with a mean gain on the first day of treatment of 64.33%. These findings have implications for preservice and inservice teacher-training programs. Methods of teaching social skills generally, including social perceptual skills, should become standard in the curriculum for teachers of students with learning disabilities.

Discrimination of static and dynamic frequency changes by children and young adults

Abstract: The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the ability of children and young adults to distinguish steady state and unilaterally gliding frequency signals corresponding to the second formant of speech. Due to the difficulty of separating language from perceptual skills when actual speech signals are used, this study used signals which were dynamic and had frequency characteristics analogous to some aspects of speech but that occurred in isolation. Information derived from these fundamental auditory abilities constitutes the basis for understanding more complex auditory performance