Differential Impact of Visuospatial Working Memory on Rule-based and Information-integration Category Learning

Feedback and observational learning differ in effectiveness during category learning in early school aged children and adults

When learning new categories, do children benefit from the same types of training as adults? We compared the effects of feedback-based training with observational training in young adults (ages 18-25) and early school aged children (ages 6-7) across two different multimodal category learning tasks: conjunctive rule based and information integration. We used multimodal stimuli that varied across a visual feature (rotation speed of the "planet" stimulus) and an auditory feature (pitch frequency of a pure tone stimulus). We found an interaction between age and training type for the rule-based category task, such that adults performed better in feedback training than in observational training, whereas training type had no significant effect on children's category learning performance. Overall adults performed better than children in learning both the rule based and information integration category structures. In information integration category learning, feedback versus observational training did not have a significant effect on either adults' or children's category learning. Computational modelling revealed that children defaulted to univariate rules in both tasks. The finding that children do not benefit from feedback training and can learn successfully via observational learning has implications for the design of educational interventions appropriate for children.

Working memory relates to individual differences in speech category learning: Insights from computational modeling and pupillometry

Across two experiments, we examine the relationship between individual differences in working memory (WM) and the acquisition of non-native speech categories in adulthood. While WM is associated with individual differences in a variety of learning tasks, successful acquisition of speech categories is argued to be contingent on WM-independent procedural-learning mechanisms. Thus, the role of WM in speech category learning is unclear. In Experiment 1, we show that individuals with higher WM acquire non-native speech categories faster and to a greater extent than those with lower WM. In Experiment 2, we replicate these results and show that individuals with higher WM use more optimal, procedural-based learning strategies and demonstrate more distinct speech-evoked pupillary responses for correct relative to incorrect trials. We propose that higher WM may allow for greater stimulus-related attention, resulting in more robust representations and optimal learning strategies. We discuss implications for neurobiological models of speech category learning.