1
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Lee VG. The attentional boost effect overcomes dual-task interference in choice-response tasks. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2023; 76:2241-2255. [PMID: 36717536 DOI: 10.1177/17470218231156375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Dual-task interference often arises when people respond to an incoming stimulus according to an arbitrary rule, such as choosing between the gas pedal and the brake when driving. Severe interference from response selection yields a brief "Psychological Refractory Period," during which a concurrent task is put on hold. Here, we show that response selection in one task does not always hamper the processing of a secondary task. Responding to a target may paradoxically enhance the processing of secondary tasks, even when the target requires complex response selection. In three experiments, participants encoded pictures of common objects to memory while simultaneously monitoring a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of characters or colours. Some of the RSVP stimuli were targets, requiring participants to press one of the two buttons to report their identity; others were distractors that participants ignored. Despite the increased response selection demands on target trials, pictures encoded with the RSVP targets were better remembered than those encoded with the RSVP distractors. Contrary to previous reports and predictions from dual-task interference, the attentional boost from target detection overcomes increased interference from response selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa G Lee
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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2
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Zhen LQ, Pratt SR. Perceptual, procedural, and task learning for an auditory temporal discrimination task. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 153:1823. [PMID: 37002097 PMCID: PMC10257527 DOI: 10.1121/10.0017548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Perceptual learning reflects experience-driven improvements in the ability to detect changes in stimulus characteristics. The time course for perceptual learning overlaps with that for procedural learning (acquiring general skills and strategies) and task learning (learning the perceptual judgment specific to the task), making it difficult to isolate their individual effects. This study was conducted to examine the role of exposure to stimulus, procedure, and task information on learning for auditory temporal-interval discrimination. Eighty-three listeners completed five online sessions that required temporal-interval discrimination (target task). Before the initial session, listeners were differentially exposed to information about the target task's stimulus, procedure, or task characteristics. Learning occurred across sessions, but an exposure effect was not observed. Given the significant learning across sessions and variability within and across listeners, contributions from stimulus, procedure, and task exposure to overall learning cannot be discounted. These findings clarify the influence of experience on temporal perceptual learning and could inform designs of training paradigms that optimize perceptual improvements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leslie Q Zhen
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA
| | - Sheila R Pratt
- Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA
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3
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Abstract
New research reveals a complex interaction between attention and learning across the lifespan. In young adults, attention guides learning. In older adults, attention declines lead to less selective learning. Counterintuitively, however, in children better attention relates to less selective learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron R Seitz
- Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
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4
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Hutmacher F, Kuhbandner C. Does the Attentional Boost Effect Depend on the Intentionality of Encoding? Investigating the Mechanisms Underlying Memory for Visual Objects Presented at Behaviorally Relevant Moments in Time. Front Psychol 2020; 11:584187. [PMID: 33304298 PMCID: PMC7693642 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.584187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2020] [Accepted: 10/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Pictures in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream are better remembered when they are simultaneously presented with targets of an unrelated detection task than when they are presented with distractors. However, it is unclear whether this so-called “attentional boost effect” depends on the intentionality of encoding. While there are studies suggesting that the attentional boost effect even occurs when encoding is incidental, there are several methodological issues with these studies, which may have undermined the incidental encoding instructions. The present study (N = 141) investigated the role of the intentionality of encoding with an improved experimental design. Specifically, to prevent a spill-over of intentional resources to the pictures in the RSVP stream, the speed of the stream was increased (to four pictures per second) and each picture was presented only once during the course of the experiment. An attentional boost effect was only found when encoding was intentional but not when encoding was incidental. Interestingly, memory performance for incidentally encoded pictures was nevertheless substantially above chance, independently of whether images were presented with search-relevant targets or distractors. These results suggest that the attentional boost effect is a memory advantage that occurs only under intentional encoding conditions, and that perceptual long-term memory representations are formed as a natural product of perception, independently of the presence of behaviorally relevant events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Hutmacher
- Department of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.,Human-Computer-Media Institute, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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5
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Broitman AW, Swallow KM. The effects of encoding instruction and opportunity on the recollection of behaviourally relevant events. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2020; 73:711-725. [PMID: 31747827 DOI: 10.1177/1747021819893676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
How does attending to a brief, behaviourally relevant stimulus affect episodic memory encoding? In the attentional boost effect, increasing attention to a brief target in a detection task boosts memory for items that are presented at the same time (relative to distractor-paired items). Although the memory advantage for target-paired items is well established, the effects of attending to targets on other aspects of episodic memory encoding are unclear. This study examined the effects of target detection and goal-directed attention on memory for task-irrelevant information from a single event, focusing on the contributions of recollection and familiarity during recognition. In Experiment 1, participants viewed a series of briefly presented faces as they performed a detection task on unrelated squares, pressing the space bar only when the square was a target colour (e.g., blue) rather than a distractor colour (e.g., orange). Half of the participants were told to memorise the faces, and half were told to ignore them. Results indicated that both recollection and familiarity were greater for target-paired faces than for distractor-paired faces, regardless of whether the faces were intentionally encoded. Experiment 2 examined whether these effects are present for single events, replicating the recollection benefit when encoding time is sufficient. Attending to behaviourally relevant targets appears to facilitate both intentional and incidental memory for the background item and the context in which it occurred, boosting subsequent recollection as well as familiarity.
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6
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Au RKC, Cheung CN. The role of attention level in the attentional boost effect. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2020.1736086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ricky K. C. Au
- School of Social Sciences, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong
| | - Ching-Nam Cheung
- School of Social Sciences, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong
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7
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Is lack of attention necessary for task-irrelevant perceptual learning? Vision Res 2017; 152:118-125. [PMID: 29274358 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2017.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2017] [Revised: 10/04/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Perceptual learning can occur for a feature irrelevant to the training task, when it is sub-threshold and outside of the focus of attention (task-irrelevant perceptual learning, TIPL); however, TIPL does not occur when the task-irrelevant feature is supra-threshold. Here, we asked the question whether TIPL occurs when the task-irrelevant feature is sub-threshold but within the focus of spatial attention. We tested participants in three different discrimination tasks performed on a 3-dot stimulus: a horizontal Vernier task and a vertical bisection task (during pre- and post-training sessions), and a luminance task (during training). In Experiment 1 we found that attending to luminance differences within the same stimulus that contains a sub-threshold horizontal offset (an irrelevant feature during training) does not preclude TIPL, as revealed by an improvement in the Vernier task, but not in the bisection task. This conclusion was confirmed in Experiment 2, in which the 3-dot stimulus used during training did not include a horizontal offset.
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8
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Mohammed S, Flores L, Deveau J, Hoffing RC, Phung C, Parlett CM, Sheehan E, Lee D, Au J, Buschkuehl M, Zordan V, Jaeggi SM, Seitz AR. The Benefits and Challenges of Implementing Motivational Features to Boost Cognitive Training Outcome. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT 2017; 1:491-507. [PMID: 30221244 DOI: 10.1007/s41465-017-0047-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
In the current literature, there are a number of cognitive training studies that use N-back tasks as their training vehicle; however, the interventions are often bland, and many studies suffer from considerable attrition rates. An increasingly common approach to increase participant engagement has been the implementation of motivational features in training tasks; yet, the effects of such "gamification" on learning have been inconsistent. To shed more light on those issues, here, we report the results of a training study conducted at two Universities in Southern California. A total of 115 participants completed 4 weeks (20 sessions) of N-back training in the laboratory. We varied the amount of "gamification" and the motivational features that might make the training more engaging and, potentially, more effective. Thus, 47 participants trained on a basic color/identity N-back version with no motivational features, whereas 68 participants trained on a gamified version that translated the basic mechanics of the N-back task into an engaging 3D space-themed "collection" game (Deveau et al. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 8, 243, 2015). Both versions used similar adaptive algorithms to increase the difficulty level as participants became more proficient. Participants' self-reports indicated that the group who trained on the gamified version enjoyed the intervention more than the group who trained on the non-gamified version. Furthermore, the participants who trained on the gamified version exerted more effort and also improved more during training. However, despite the differential training effects, there were no significant group differences in any of the outcome measures at post-test, suggesting that the inclusion of motivational features neither substantially benefited nor hurt broader learning. Overall, our findings provide guidelines for task implementation to optimally target participants' interest and engagement to promote learning, which may lead to broader adoption and adherence of cognitive training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shafee Mohammed
- School of Education, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
| | - Lauren Flores
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Jenni Deveau
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Russell Cohen Hoffing
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Calvin Phung
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Chelsea M Parlett
- School of Education, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
| | - Ellen Sheehan
- School of Education, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
| | - David Lee
- School of Education, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
| | - Jacky Au
- School of Education, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
| | - Martin Buschkuehl
- MIND Research Institute, 111 Academy Dr., Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
| | - Victor Zordan
- School of Computing, Clemson University, 307 McAdams Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - Susanne M Jaeggi
- School of Education, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92617, USA
| | - Aaron R Seitz
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
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9
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Protopapas A, Mitsi A, Koustoumbardis M, Tsitsopoulou SM, Leventi M, Seitz AR. Incidental orthographic learning during a color detection task. Cognition 2017; 166:251-271. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2017.05.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2016] [Revised: 05/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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10
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Wisniewski MG, Radell ML, Church BA, Mercado E. Benefits of fading in perceptual learning are driven by more than dimensional attention. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0180959. [PMID: 28723976 PMCID: PMC5516993 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2016] [Accepted: 06/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals learn to classify percepts effectively when the task is initially easy and then gradually increases in difficulty. Some suggest that this is because easy-to-discriminate events help learners focus attention on discrimination-relevant dimensions. Here, we tested whether such attentional-spotlighting accounts are sufficient to explain easy-to-hard effects in auditory perceptual learning. In two experiments, participants were trained to discriminate periodic, frequency-modulated (FM) tones in two separate frequency ranges (300–600 Hz or 3000–6000 Hz). In one frequency range, sounds gradually increased in similarity as training progressed. In the other, stimulus similarity was constant throughout training. After training, participants showed better performance in their progressively trained frequency range, even though the discrimination-relevant dimension across ranges was the same. Learning theories that posit experience-dependent changes in stimulus representations and/or the strengthening of associations with differential responses, predict the observed specificity of easy-to-hard effects, whereas attentional-spotlighting theories do not. Calibrating the difficulty and temporal sequencing of training experiences to support more incremental representation-based learning can enhance the effectiveness of practice beyond any benefits gained from explicitly highlighting relevant dimensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew G. Wisniewski
- 711 Human Performance Wing, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Milen L. Radell
- Department of Psychology, Niagara University, Lewiston, New York, United States of America
| | - Barbara A. Church
- Department of Psychology, Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Eduardo Mercado
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America
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11
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Green CS, Seitz AR. The Impacts of Video Games on Cognition (and How the Government Can Guide the Industry). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.1177/2372732215601121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Video game play has become a pervasive part of American culture. The dramatic increase in the popularity of video games has resulted in significant interest in the effects that video gaming may have on the brain and behavior. The scientific research to date indicates that some, but not all, commercial video games do indeed have the potential to cause large-scale changes in a wide variety of aspects of human behavior, including the focus of this review—cognitive abilities. More recent years have seen the rise of a separate form of video games, the so-called “brain games,” or games designed with the explicit goal of enhancing cognitive abilities. Although research on such brain games is still in its infancy, and the results have definitely not been uniformly positive, there is nonetheless reason for continued optimism that custom games can be developed that make a lasting and positive impact on human cognitive skills. Here, we discuss the current state of the scientific literature surrounding video games and human cognition with an emphasis on points critically related to public policy.
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12
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Deveau J, Jaeggi SM, Zordan V, Phung C, Seitz AR. How to build better memory training games. Front Syst Neurosci 2015; 8:243. [PMID: 25620916 PMCID: PMC4288240 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2014.00243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2014] [Accepted: 12/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Can we create engaging training programs that improve working memory (WM) skills? While there are numerous procedures that attempt to do so, there is a great deal of controversy regarding their efficacy. Nonetheless, recent meta-analytic evidence shows consistent improvements across studies on lab-based tasks generalizing beyond the specific training effects (Au et al., 2014; Karbach and Verhaeghen, 2014), however, there is little research into how WM training aids participants in their daily life. Here we propose that incorporating design principles from the fields of Perceptual Learning (PL) and Computer Science might augment the efficacy of WM training, and ultimately lead to greater learning and transfer. In particular, the field of PL has identified numerous mechanisms (including attention, reinforcement, multisensory facilitation and multi-stimulus training) that promote brain plasticity. Also, computer science has made great progress in the scientific approach to game design that can be used to create engaging environments for learning. We suggest that approaches integrating knowledge across these fields may lead to a more effective WM interventions and better reflect real world conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenni Deveau
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Susanne M Jaeggi
- School of Education, University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA, USA ; Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Victor Zordan
- Department of Computer Science, University of California, Riverside Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Calvin Phung
- Department of Computer Science, University of California, Riverside Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Aaron R Seitz
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside Riverside, CA, USA
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13
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Hoffing RC, Seitz AR. Pupillometry as a glimpse into the neurochemical basis of human memory encoding. J Cogn Neurosci 2014; 27:765-74. [PMID: 25390194 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Neurochemical systems are well studied in animal learning; however, ethical issues limit methodologies to explore these systems in humans. Pupillometry provides a glimpse into the brain's neurochemical systems, where pupil dynamics in monkeys have been linked with locus coeruleus (LC) activity, which releases norepinephrine (NE) throughout the brain. Here, we use pupil dynamics as a surrogate measure of neurochemical activity to explore the hypothesis that NE is involved in modulating memory encoding. We examine this using a task-irrelevant learning paradigm in which learning is boosted for stimuli temporally paired with task targets. We show that participants better recognize images that are paired with task targets than distractors and, in correspondence, that pupil size changes more for target-paired than distractor-paired images. To further investigate the hypothesis that NE nonspecifically guides learning for stimuli that are present with its release, a second procedure was used that employed an unexpected sound to activate the LC-NE system and induce pupil-size changes; results indicated a corresponding increase in memorization of images paired with the unexpected sounds. Together, these results suggest a relationship between the LC-NE system, pupil-size changes, and human memory encoding.
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14
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Abstract
Visual perceptual learning (VPL) is long-term performance increase resulting from visual perceptual experience. Task-relevant VPL of a feature results from training of a task on the feature relevant to the task. Task-irrelevant VPL arises as a result of exposure to the feature irrelevant to the trained task. At least two serious problems exist. First, there is the controversy over which stage of information processing is changed in association with task-relevant VPL. Second, no model has ever explained both task-relevant and task-irrelevant VPL. Here we propose a dual plasticity model in which feature-based plasticity is a change in a representation of the learned feature, and task-based plasticity is a change in processing of the trained task. Although the two types of plasticity underlie task-relevant VPL, only feature-based plasticity underlies task-irrelevant VPL. This model provides a new comprehensive framework in which apparently contradictory results could be explained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takeo Watanabe
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912;
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15
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Byers A, Serences JT. Enhanced attentional gain as a mechanism for generalized perceptual learning in human visual cortex. J Neurophysiol 2014; 112:1217-27. [PMID: 24920023 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00353.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning to better discriminate a specific visual feature (i.e., a specific orientation in a specific region of space) has been associated with plasticity in early visual areas (sensory modulation) and with improvements in the transmission of sensory information from early visual areas to downstream sensorimotor and decision regions (enhanced readout). However, in many real-world scenarios that require perceptual expertise, observers need to efficiently process numerous exemplars from a broad stimulus class as opposed to just a single stimulus feature. Some previous data suggest that perceptual learning leads to highly specific neural modulations that support the discrimination of specific trained features. However, the extent to which perceptual learning acts to improve the discriminability of a broad class of stimuli via the modulation of sensory responses in human visual cortex remains largely unknown. Here, we used functional MRI and a multivariate analysis method to reconstruct orientation-selective response profiles based on activation patterns in the early visual cortex before and after subjects learned to discriminate small offsets in a set of grating stimuli that were rendered in one of nine possible orientations. Behavioral performance improved across 10 training sessions, and there was a training-related increase in the amplitude of orientation-selective response profiles in V1, V2, and V3 when orientation was task relevant compared with when it was task irrelevant. These results suggest that generalized perceptual learning can lead to modified responses in the early visual cortex in a manner that is suitable for supporting improved discriminability of stimuli drawn from a large set of exemplars.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Byers
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, California
| | - John T Serences
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, California Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, California
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16
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Abstract
Training or exposure to a visual feature leads to a long-term improvement in performance on visual tasks that employ this feature. Such performance improvements and the processes that govern them are called visual perceptual learning (VPL). As an ever greater volume of research accumulates in the field, we have reached a point where a unifying model of VPL should be sought. A new wave of research findings has exposed diverging results along three major directions in VPL: specificity versus generalization of VPL, lower versus higher brain locus of VPL, and task-relevant versus task-irrelevant VPL. In this review, we propose a new theoretical model that suggests the involvement of two different stages in VPL: a low-level, stimulus-driven stage, and a higher-level stage dominated by task demands. If experimentally verified, this model would not only constructively unify the current divergent results in the VPL field, but would also lead to a significantly better understanding of visual plasticity, which may, in turn, lead to interventions to ameliorate diseases affecting vision and other pathological or age-related visual and nonvisual declines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuhisa Shibata
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
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17
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Meuwese JDI, Scholte HS, Lamme VAF. Latent memory of unattended stimuli reactivated by practice: an FMRI study on the role of consciousness and attention in learning. PLoS One 2014; 9:e90098. [PMID: 24603676 PMCID: PMC3946088 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2013] [Accepted: 01/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Although we can only report about what is in the focus of our attention, much more than that is actually processed. And even when attended, stimuli may not always be reportable, for instance when they are masked. A stimulus can thus be unreportable for different reasons: the absence of attention or the absence of a conscious percept. But to what extent does the brain learn from exposure to these unreportable stimuli? In this fMRI experiment subjects were exposed to textured figure-ground stimuli, of which reportability was manipulated either by masking (which only interferes with consciousness) or with an inattention paradigm (which only interferes with attention). One day later learning was assessed neurally and behaviorally. Positive neural learning effects were found for stimuli presented in the inattention paradigm; for attended yet masked stimuli negative adaptation effects were found. Interestingly, these inattentional learning effects only became apparent in a second session after a behavioral detection task had been administered during which performance feedback was provided. This suggests that the memory trace that is formed during inattention is latent until reactivated by behavioral practice. However, no behavioral learning effects were found, therefore we cannot conclude that perceptual learning has taken place for these unattended stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia D. I. Meuwese
- Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre (ABC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - H. Steven Scholte
- Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre (ABC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Victor A. F. Lamme
- Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre (ABC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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18
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Leclercq V, Le Dantec CC, Seitz AR. Encoding of episodic information through fast task-irrelevant perceptual learning. Vision Res 2013; 99:5-11. [PMID: 24070687 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2013.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2013] [Revised: 09/13/2013] [Accepted: 09/14/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The mechanisms guiding our learning and memory processes are of key interest to human cognition. While much research shows that attention and reinforcement processes help guide the encoding process, there is still much to know regarding how our brains choose what to remember. Recent research of task-irrelevant perceptual learning (TIPL) has found that information presented coincident with important events is better encoded even if participants are not aware of its presence (see Seitz & Watanabe, 2009). However a limitation of existing studies of TIPL is that they provide little information regarding the depth of encoding supported by pairing a stimulus with a behaviorally relevant event. The objective of this research was to understand the depth of encoding of information that is learned through TIPL. To do so, we adopted a variant of the "remember/know" paradigm, recently reported by Ingram, Mickes, and Wixted (2012), in which multiple confidence levels of both familiar (know) and remember reports are reported (Experiment 1), and in which episodic information is tested (Experiment 2). TIPL was found in both experiments, with higher recognition performance for target-paired than for distractor-paired images. Furthermore, TIPL benefitted both "familiar" and "remember" reports. The results of Experiment 2 indicate that the most confident "remember" response was associated with episodic information, where participants were able to access the location of image presentation for these items. Together, these results indicate that TIPL results in a deep enhancement in the encoding of target-paired information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginie Leclercq
- Department of Psychology, University of California - Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA; INSHEA, Grhapes (EA 7287), Suresnes, France
| | - Christophe C Le Dantec
- Department of Psychology, University of California - Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Aaron R Seitz
- Department of Psychology, University of California - Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
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19
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Swallow KM, Jiang YV. Attentional load and attentional boost: a review of data and theory. Front Psychol 2013; 4:274. [PMID: 23730294 PMCID: PMC3657623 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2013] [Accepted: 04/28/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Both perceptual and cognitive processes are limited in capacity. As a result, attention is selective, prioritizing items and tasks that are important for adaptive behavior. However, a number of recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies suggest that, at least under some circumstances, increasing attention to one task can enhance performance in a second task (e.g., the attentional boost effect). Here we review these findings and suggest a new theoretical framework, the dual-task interaction model, that integrates these findings with current views of attentional selection. To reconcile the attentional boost effect with the effects of attentional load, we suggest that temporal selection results in a temporally specific enhancement across modalities, tasks, and spatial locations. Moreover, the effects of temporal selection may be best observed when the attentional system is optimally tuned to the temporal dynamics of incoming stimuli. Several avenues of research motivated by the dual-task interaction model are then discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khena M Swallow
- Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Sciences, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Abstract
In the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in the effects of rewards on visual perception. Exogenous rewards have been shown to increase visual sensitivity and to affect attentional selection. Human beings, however, also feel rewarded by the correct execution of a task. It has been proposed that this form of endogenous reward triggers reinforcement signals in the brain, making the sensory system more sensitive to stimuli that have been extensively and repeatedly paired with the rewarding experiences and modulating long-term cortical plasticity. Here, we report the striking observation that a well-known visual illusion, the tilt aftereffect, which is due to a form of short-term cortical plasticity, is immediately enhanced by a concurrent and independent target-recognition process. Our results show that endogenous rewards can alter visual experience with virtually no delay.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Pascucci
- Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, Sciences, University ofTrento, Corso Bettini, 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
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Exploring the relationship between perceptual learning and top-down attentional control. Vision Res 2012; 74:30-9. [PMID: 22850344 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2012.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2012] [Revised: 06/07/2012] [Accepted: 07/14/2012] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Here, we review the role of top-down attention in both the acquisition and the expression of perceptual learning, as well as the role of learning in more efficiently guiding attentional modulations. Although attention often mediates learning at the outset of training, many of the characteristic behavioral and neural changes associated with learning can be observed even when stimuli are task irrelevant and ignored. However, depending on task demands, attention can override the effects of perceptual learning, suggesting that even if top-down factors are not strictly necessary to observe learning, they play a critical role in determining how learning-related changes in behavior and neural activity are ultimately expressed. In turn, training may also act to optimize the effectiveness of top-down attentional control by improving the efficiency of sensory gain modulations, regulating intrinsic noise, and altering the read-out of sensory information.
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Leclercq V, Seitz AR. Fast-TIPL occurs for salient images without a memorization requirement in men but not in women. PLoS One 2012; 7:e36228. [PMID: 22558395 PMCID: PMC3338687 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2012] [Accepted: 03/28/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research of task-irrelevant perceptual learning (TIPL) demonstrates that stimuli that are consistently presented at relevant point in times (e.g. with task-targets or rewards) are learned, even in the absence of attention to these stimuli. However, different research paradigms have observed different results for how salient stimuli are learned; with some studies showing no learning, some studies showing positive learning and others showing negative learning effects. In this paper we focused on how the level of processing of stimuli impacts fast-TIPL. We conducted three different experiments in which the level of processing of the information paired with a target was manipulated. Our results indicated that fast-TIPL occurs when participants have to memorize the information presented with the target, but also when they just have to process this information for a secondary task without an explicit memorization of those stimuli. However, fast-TIPL does not occur when participants have to ignore the target-paired information. This observation is consistent with recent models of TIPL that suggest that attentional signals can either enhance or suppress learning depending on whether those stimuli are distracting or not to the subjects' objectives. Our results also revealed a robust gender effect in fast-TIPL, where male subjects consistently show fast-TIPL, whereas the observation of fast-TIPL is inconsistent in female subjects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginie Leclercq
- Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California, USA.
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