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"Perceptual learning"
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Is perceptual learning always better at task-relevant locations? It depends on the distractors
The role of attention in task-irrelevant perceptual learning has been contested. Attention has been studied in the past using distractor-type manipulations. Hence, during an initial exposure phase, we manipulated distractor similarity within a set of six gratings, to study its effects on perceptual learning at task-relevant and task-irrelevant locations. Of these six gratings, one was at a task-relevant location, one at a task-irrelvant location, which shared the orientation with the task-relevant grating, and the rest (four) were distractor gratings. The orientations of the distractor gratings were all either the same (homogeneous) or different from each other (heterogeneity). We hypothesized that learning at the task-irrelevant location would be worse than learning at the task-relevant location when distractors are heterogeneous and vice versa when the distractors are homogeneous. Participants were initially exposed to a grating set; they reported contrast changes at only one prespecified task-relevant location. This grating was grouped based on orientation with a task-irrelevant grating presented at the furthermost distractor location and presented alongside four control-distractors (homogeneous or heterogeneous). In the testing phase, orientation discrimination performance was measured at task-relevant, task-irrelevant (grouped), and control-distractor locations. Participants were exposed and tested sequentially, each day for 5 days. Participants learned and performed better at the task-irrelevant location compared to the task-relevant location with homogenous distractors and vice versa with heterogenous distractors. The poorer learning at the task-relevant location compared to the task-irrelevant location challenges current models of perceptual learning. Selection mechanisms driven by the nature of distractors influence perceptual learning at both task-relevant and task-irrelevant locations.
Journal Article
Perceptual learning : the flexibility of the senses
\"Experts from wine tasters to radiologists to bird watchers have all undergone perceptual learning, that is, long-term changes in perception that result from practice or experience. This book offers the first comprehensive empirically-informed account of perceptual learning for philosophers. It explores the nature, scope, and theoretical implications of perceptual learning\" -- Provided by publisher.
Book
Concreteness Fading in Mathematics and Science Instruction: a Systematic Review
A longstanding debate concerns the use of concrete versus abstract instructional materials, particularly in domains such as mathematics and science. Although decades of research have focused on the advantages and disadvantages of concrete and abstract materials considered independently, we argue for an approach that moves beyond this dichotomy and combines their advantages. Specifically, we recommend beginning with concrete materials and then explicitly and gradually fading to the more abstract. Theoretical benefits of this \"concreteness fading\" technique for mathematics and science instruction include (1) helping learners interpret ambiguous or opaque abstract symbols in terms of well-understood concrete objects, (2) providing embodied perceptual and physical experiences that can ground abstract thinking, (3) enabling learners to build up a store of memorable images that can be used when abstract symbols lose meaning, and (4) guiding learners to strip away extraneous concrete properties and distill the generic, generalizable properties. In these ways, concreteness fading provides advantages that go beyond the sum of the benefits of concrete and abstract materials.
Journal Article
Neural ensembles in the murine medial prefrontal cortex process distinct information during visual perceptual learning
Background
Perceptual learning refers to an augmentation of an organism’s ability to respond to external stimuli, which has been described in most sensory modalities. Visual perceptual learning (VPL) is a manifestation of plasticity in visual information processing that occurs in the adult brain, and can be used to ameliorate the ability of patients with visual defects mainly based on an improvement of detection or discrimination of features in visual tasks. While some brain regions such as the primary visual cortex have been described to participate in VPL, the way more general high-level cognitive brain areas are involved in this process remains unclear. Here, we showed that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was essential for both the training and maintenance processes of VPL in mouse models.
Results
We built a new VPL model in a custom-designed training chamber to enable the utilization of miniScopes when mice freely executed the VPL task. We found that pyramidal neurons in the mPFC participate in both the training process and maintenance of VPL. By recording the calcium activity of mPFC pyramidal neurons while mice freely executed the task, distinct ON and OFF neural ensembles tuned to different behaviors were identified, which might encode different cognitive information. Decoding analysis showed that mouse behaviors could be well predicted using the activity of each ON ensemble. Furthermore, VPL recruited more reward-related components in the mPFC.
Conclusion
We revealed the neural mechanism underlying vision improvement following VPL and identify distinct ON and OFF neural ensembles in the mPFC that tuned to different information during visual perceptual training. These results uncover an important role of the mPFC in VPL, with more reward-related components being also involved, and pave the way for future clarification of the reward signal coding rules in VPL.
Journal Article
Current Developments in the Management of Amblyopia with the Use of Perceptual Learning Techniques
Background and Objectives: Amblyopia is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by interocular suppression of visual input, affecting visual acuity, stereopsis, contrast sensitivity, and other visual functions. Conventional treatment comprises occlusion of the sound eye. In recent years, novel therapies that deploy perceptual learning (PL) principles have been introduced. The purpose of this study is to assess the latest scientific data on this topic. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, we conducted a literature search for relevant studies published during the previous 4 years (2020–2023). Results: A plethora of visual perceptual learning protocols have been recently developed. Dichoptic video games, contrast rebalanced movies, and online perceptual training platforms are the main formats. Perceptual learning activates neuroplasticity, overcomes interocular suppression, and improves the visual impairments induced by amblyopia. Conclusions: This novel treatment is effective in both children and adults, as well as in patients non-responding to patching.
Journal Article
Perceptual Learning Modules (PLM) in CS1: a Negative Result and a Methodological Warning
Perceptual Learning Modules (PLMs) is a variation of Perceptual Learning based on multiple-choice questionnaires. There exists successful research of the use of PLMs in math and flight training. The possibility of designing and adopting PLMs in Introductory Programming Courses (CS1) is still an open area of study. The goal of this study is to test whether students that received a PLM training on recognising segments of programs will perform better at writing programs. Two PLM interventions were administered to students. The first intervention was a nonrandom controlled experiment, in which students opted to answer the PLM questionnaire (N=40), while the control group consisted of students that did not answer it (N=629). The second intervention was a randomized controlled experiment with a placebo, in which students were randomly assigned to perform either the PLM questionnaire (N=51) or another a placebo activity (N=51). The different forms of analysis of the first experiment results yielded Cohen's d ranging from 0.23 to 0.34 in favor of the PLM intervention. For the second experiment, the effect size was d = -0.11 against the PLM intervention, but the two results were significant. We believe that the cautious conclusion is that there is a null effect in using a PLM activity as part of a CS1 course. The paper is also of interest because of the methodological decisions and techniques used.
Journal Article