Breaking the perceptual-conceptual barrier: Relational matching and working memory

Smith, J. David; Jackson, Brooke N.; Church, Barbara A.

doi:10.3758/s13421-018-0890-9

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…First, the working memory demands required to hold on to choices while awaiting deferred feedback probably interferes more with the discovery of abstract relational concepts like same/different than with the discovery of basic perceptual concepts like square/rectangle. This would be consistent with recent research showing that concurrent working memory load interferes with participants’ transition from perceptually based matching to conceptual same/different matching in a relational match to sample task (Smith et al, 2019). Second, in E2, hypothesis testing had to operate over a deferral of 6 trials in a block, not just 1 lagged trial as in E1.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…A second learning process resident in working consciousness can explain this shift. In fact, Smith et al (2019) showed they could disrupt this learning process using working memory interference in a relational task like that used in Experiment 2. Third, a single system cannot explain the transition from concrete-perceptual to abstract-conceptual information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…A perceptual associative system can gain no traction on an appearance-transcending relation of this kind. Fourth, it is more of an executive function, a conclusion strengthened by the demonstration that a concurrent working memory load interferes with relational learning (Smith et al, 2019). It seems to us that all of these—the abstractive, the verbal, the rule-based, the relational, the executive—could be components of a system that builds explicitly more conceptual, theory-based concepts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Monkeys have failed in RMTS tasks (e.g., Smith et al, 2013) or shown glimmers of success given dogged training (e.g., Fagot & Thompson, 2011). It is meaningful that in Maugard et al (2013), baboons performing RMTS tasks were disrupted by working memory interference as humans were in Smith et al (2019). Thus, executive processing enters the evolutionary story.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conceptual anchoring dissociates implicit and explicit category learning.

Smith¹,

Jackson²,

Adamczyk³

et al. 2022

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

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Categorization researchers have long debated the possibility of multiple category-learning systems. The need persists for paradigms that dissociate explicit-declarative category-learning processes (featuring verbalizable category rules) from implicit-procedural processes (featuring stimulus–response associations lying beneath declarative cognition). The authors contribute a new paradigm, using perfectly matched exclusive-or (XOR) category tasks differing only in the availability or absence of easily verbalizable conceptual content. This manipulation transformed learning. The conceptual task alone was learned suddenly, by insightful rule discovery, producing explicit–declarative XOR knowledge. The perceptual task was learned more gradually, consistent with associative-learning processes, producing impoverished declarative knowledge. We also tested participants under regimens of immediate and deferred reinforcement. The conceptual task alone was learned through processes that survive the loss of trial-by-trial reinforcement. All results support the idea that humans have perceptual-associative processes for implicit learning, but also an overlain conceptual system that under the right circumstances constitutes a parallel explicit–declarative category-learning system.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Conceptual anchoring dissociates implicit and explicit category learning.

Smith¹,

Jackson²,

Adamczyk³

et al. 2022

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…Finally, we began investigating the perceptual factors that influence pigeons’ two-item same–different performance—an area that past research had not yet addressed (cf., Wright & Sands, 1981; who explored how pigeons’ matching-to-sample decisions were impacted when both response options were of varying distances from the sample, as well as Smith et al, 2019; who assessed how varying distances from a prototype influenced humans’ responding in relational matching-to-sample). Specifically, we asked how pigeons’ responding might depend on the perceptual disparity between the members of each different-item pair.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-item conditional same–different categorization in pigeons: Finding differences.

Díaz

O'Donoghue

Wasserman

2021

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cogniti

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Research on same-different categorization has shown that mastery of tasks of this kind can be strongly affected by the number of items in the training arrays-for both humans and nonhuman animals. Evidence for two-item same-different categorization in pigeons is decidedly mixed: although some investigations have succeeded, others have failed. To date, no research has documented successful conditional same-different categorization using just two items, nor has research explored how pigeons' responses in this paradigm might be influenced by perceptual characteristics of the training stimuli. Through a series of methodological modifications, we provide the first successful documentation that pigeons can perform two-item conditional same-different categorization to a high degree of accuracy; further, they can do so without the support of item repetition. We also show for the first time that the perceptual disparity between the items in pairs of different stimuli plays a key part in pigeons' same-different categorization performance.

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