Work

Task precision at transfer determines specificity of perceptual learning

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: Perceptual learning, the improvement in performance with practice, reflects plasticity in the adult visual system. We challenge a standard claim that specificity of perceptual learning depends on task difficulty during training, instead showing that specificity, or conversely transfer, is primarily controlled by the precision demands (i.e., orientation difference) of the transfer task. Thus, for an orientation discrimination task, transfer of performance improvement is observed in low-precision transfer tasks, while specificity of performance improvement is observed in high-precision transfer tasks, regardless of the precision of initial training. The nature of specificity places important constraints on mechanisms of transfer in visual learning. These results contribute to understanding generalization of practiced improvements that may be key to the development of expertise and for applications in remediation.

Source: Journal of Vision

DOI: 10.1167/9.3.1

Authors: P. E. Jeter, B. A. Dosher, A. Petrov, Z. L. Lu

Institutions: University of California, Irvine, The Ohio State University, University of Southern California

Language: English

Topic: Visual perception and processing mechanisms

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,850