Comparing perceptual category learning across modalities in the same individuals

Abstract

Category learning is a fundamental process in human cognition that spans the senses. However, much still remains unknown about the mechanisms supporting learning in different modalities.In the current study, we directly compared auditory and visual category learning in the same individuals. Thirty participants (22 F; 18-32 years old) completed two unidimensional rule-based category learning tasks in a single day-one with auditory stimuli and another with visual stimuli. We replicated the results in a second experiment with a larger online sample (N = 99, 45 F, 18-35 years old). The categories were identically structured in the two modalities to facilitate comparison. We compared categorization accuracy, decision processes as assessed through driftdiffusion models, and the generalizability of resulting category representation through a generalization test. We found that individuals learned auditory and visual categories to similar extents and that accuracies were highly correlated across the two tasks. Participants had similar evidence accumulation rates in later learning, but early on had slower rates for visual than auditory learning. Participants also demonstrated differences in the decision thresholds across modalities. Participants had more categorical generalizable representations for visual than auditory categories. These results suggest that some modality-general cognitive processes support category learning but also suggest that the modality of the stimuli may also affect category learning behavior and outcomes.

Rapid but specific perceptual learning partially explains individual differences in the recognition of challenging speech

“…Therefore, this account is more ecological than accounts based on the generalization of past learning. Consistent with the idea that perceptual learning is a general resource, recent findings show that learning is correlated across different tasks and even across modalities 23 , 24 , 26 .…”

“…Alternatively, rapid learning could support online perception in challenging conditions by allowing listeners to quickly adapt to the acoustic characteristics of a broad range of conditions 21 , 22 . Consistent with this hypothesis, recent studies suggest that perceptual learning ‘clusters’ across a range of conditions and could thus form an individual capacity 23 – 26 . Furthermore, we found that rapid improvements in the recognition of one type of acoustically challenging speech are associated with individual differences in the recognition of other forms of challenging speech 22 , 27 , 28 .…”

Same or Different? Perceptual Learning for Connected Speech Induced by Brief and Longer Experiences

“…Therefore, this account is more ecological than accounts based on the generalization of past learning. Consistent with the idea that perceptual learning is a general resource, recent ndings show that learning is correlated across different tasks and even across modalities [34][35][36].…”

“…The idea that rapid perceptual learning plays an independent role in individual differences in speech perception has merit only to the extent that (rapid) perceptual learning is a general ability or capacity of an individual, at least within a domain. A few recent auditory [35] and visual [34,36] learning studies suggest that a common factor could explain learning across different tasks. Using visual and auditory discrimination tasks, Yang et al [36] reported that despite large differences in learning rates across tasks, a common learning factor accounted for more than 30% of the variance across different learning tasks.…”

“…Using visual and auditory discrimination tasks, Yang et al [36] reported that despite large differences in learning rates across tasks, a common learning factor accounted for more than 30% of the variance across different learning tasks. Roark et al [35] studied the learning of non-speech auditory and visual categories. They found that while learning rates were faster for visual than for auditory categories, categorization accuracy at the end of training was correlated between the auditory and the visual task, suggesting that individual differences in category learning are correlated across the auditory and the visual modalities.…”