The rapid emergence of stimulus specific perceptual learning

Hussain, Zahra; McGraw, Paul V.; Sekuler, Allison B.; Bennett, Patrick J.

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00226

The rapid emergence of stimulus specific perceptual learning

Hussain, Zahra; McGraw, Paul V.; Sekuler, Allison B.; Bennett, Patrick J.

Authors

Zahra Hussain

Paul V. McGraw

Allison B. Sekuler

Patrick J. Bennett

Abstract

Is stimulus specific perceptual learning the result of extended practice or does it emerge early in the time course of learning? We examined this issue by manipulating the amount of practice given on a face identification task on Day 1, and altering the familiarity of stimuli on Day 2. We found that a small number of trials was sufficient to produce stimulus specific perceptual learning of faces: on Day 2, response accuracy decreased by the same amount for novel stimuli regardless of whether observers practiced 105 or 840 trials on Day 1. Current models of learning assume early procedural improvements followed by late stimulus specific gains. Our results show that stimulus specific and procedural improvements are distributed throughout the time course of learning.

Citation

Hussain, Z., McGraw, P. V., Sekuler, A. B., & Bennett, P. J. (2012). The rapid emergence of stimulus specific perceptual learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 3(226), https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00226

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Jul 5, 2012
Deposit Date	Mar 28, 2014
Publicly Available Date	Mar 28, 2014
Journal	Frontiers in Psychology
Electronic ISSN	1664-1078
Publisher	Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	3
Issue	226
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00226
Public URL	https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/710719
Publisher URL	http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00226/abstract
Additional Information	This Document is Protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. it is reproduced with permission.