Location transfer of perceptual learning: Passive stimulation and double training

Abstract

Specificity has always been considered one of the hallmarks of perceptual learning, suggesting that performance improvement would reflect changes at early stages of visual analyses (e.g., V1). More recently, however, this view has been challenged by studies documenting complete transfer of learning among different spatial locations or stimulus orientations when a double-training procedure is adopted. Here, we further investigate the conditions under which transfer of visual perceptual learning takes place, confirming that the passive stimulation at the transfer location seems to be insufficient to overcome learning specificity. By contrast, learning transfer is complete when performing a secondary task at the transfer location. Interestingly, (i) transfer emerges when the primary and secondary tasks are intermingled on a trial-by-trial basis, and (ii) the effects of learning generalization appear to be reciprocal, namely the primary task also serves to enable transfer of the secondary task. However, if the secondary task is not performed for a sufficient number of trials, then transfer is not enabled. Overall, the results lend support to the recent view that task-relevant perceptual learning may involve high-level stages of visual analyses.

Perceptual learning eases crowding by reducing recognition errors but not position errors

“…However, what we can learn from this partial location specificity requires further study. Many visual-learning tasks are known to be at least partially specific to the trained location, but weand, more recently other labs too-have demonstrated that location-specific perceptual learning can often be rendered completely transferrable to other untrained locations with double training (Hung & Seitz, 2014;Mastropasqua, Galliussi, Pascucci, & Turatto, 2015;Wang, Cong, & Yu, 2013;Wang, Zhang, Klein, Levi, & Yu, 2012Xiao et al, 2008). We are currently investigating whether double training can be equally effective in eliminating location specificity in crowdingrelated perceptual learning, with the intention of using the transfer effects to infer the mechanisms underlying crowding and its learning.…”

Increase in MST activity correlates with visual motion learning: A functional MRI study of perceptual learning

“…The human visual system is capable of improved performance following repeated practice of a visual task, a type of learning called visual perceptual learning . While training of most visual tasks appears to lead to location‐specific and task‐specific improvements in performance, it is also possible to design paradigms that can transfer both to other untrained visual locations [Mastropasqua et al, ; Xiao et al, ] and other tasks [Lev et al, ; McGovern et al, ; Wang et al, ].…”

Motor response specificity in perceptual learning and its release by double training

“…Zhang et al, 2010). This view was supported by many studies in the last decade showing that perceptual learning can generalize to different orientations and locations when specific training protocols are used, such as double training and training plus exposure (Mastropasqua, Galliussi, Pascucci, & Turatto, 2015;Wang, Zhang, Klein, Levi, & Yu, 2012Xiao et al, 2008;J. Y. Zhang & Yang, 2014;Zhang & Yu, 2018;T.…”

“…Behavioral studies (Fiorentini & Berardi, 1981;Karni & Sagi, 1991;Poggio, Fahle, & Edelman, 1992;Ramachandran, 1976;Ramachandran & Braddick, 1973;Vogels & Orban, 1985) and electrophysiological findings (Crist et al, 2001;Schoups et al, 2001) showing high specificity of perceptual learning were taken as evidence that perceptual learning is mediated by neural changes at the early stages of visual processing such as V1. In the last decades, later sensory and decision-making stages were favored (Dosher & Lu, 1998Ghose, 2004;Ghose et al, 2002;Mollon & Danilova, 1996;Petrov et al, 2005) based on findings that task-irrelevant perceptual learning (Choi et al, 2009;Galliussi et al, 2018;Watanabe et al, 2001) and double training (Mastropasqua et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2014Wang et al, , 2012Xiao et al, 2008;J. Y. Zhang & Yang, 2014; can prevent the specificity of perceptual learning.…”

“…In double training, two stimuli features were shown to transfer across different trained locations (Mastropasqua et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2012Wang et al, , 2014Xiao et al, 2008;J. Y. Zhang & Yang, 2014;J.-Y.…”