Perceptual learning after test-stimulus exposure in humans

Perceptual learning refers to the enhanced ability of users to pick up information from a class of stimuli and is achieved through rapid, repeated stimulus exposure with feedback. Classifying optical coherence tomography images of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) scans as either the wet or dry subtype is an extremely difficult perceptual task that typically requires years of training. The purpose of this study was to develop techniques to quickly train users to classify AMD retinal scan images as wet or dry. To determine whether gamification techniques might aid perceptual learning, half of the participants received a gamified feedback during training while the other half received informational feedback only. Results demonstrated significant improvement in AMD image classification for both the gamified and non-gamified groups, even on retinal scans never encountered during training. Participants in the gamified group, however, had higher levels of intrinsic motivation for the task.

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Learned Changes in the Sensitivity of Stimulus Representations: Associative and Nonassociative Mechanisms

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section B ◽

10.1080/02724990244000151 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 56 (1b) ◽

pp. 43-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

Geoffrey Hall

Keyword(s):

Classical Conditioning ◽

Associative Learning ◽

Perceptual Learning ◽

Learning Theory ◽

Stimulus Discriminability ◽

Stimulus Exposure ◽

Learning Mechanism ◽

Intense Stimulus ◽

Direct Explanation ◽

Event Representations

Central to associative learning theory is the proposal that the concurrent activation of a pair of event representations will establish or strengthen a link between them. Associative theorists have devoted much energy to establishing what representations are involved in any given learning paradigm and the rules that determine the degree to which the link is strengthened. They have paid less attention to the question of what determines that a representation will be activated, assuming, for the case of classical conditioning, that presentation of an appropriately intense stimulus from an appropriate modality will be enough. But this assumption is unjustified. Ipresent the results of experiments on the effects of stimulus exposure in rats that suggest that mere exposure to a stimulus can influence its perceptual effectiveness—that the ability of a stimulus to activate its representation can be changed by experience. This conclusion is of interest for two reasons. First, it supplies a direct explanation for the phenomenon of perceptual learning—the enhancement of stimulus discriminability produced by some forms of stimulus exposure. Second, it poses a theoretical challenge in that it seems to require the existence of a learning mechanism outside the scope of those envisaged by current formal theories of associative learning. I offer some speculations as to how this mechanism might be incorporated into such theories.

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Perceptual Learning of Vocoded Speech With and Without Contralateral Hearing: Implications for Cochlear Implant Rehabilitation

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00385 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Martin Chavant ◽

Alexis Hervais-Adelman ◽

Olivier Macherey

Keyword(s):

Cochlear Implant ◽

Perceptual Learning ◽

Speech Signal ◽

Training Phase ◽

Monosyllabic Words ◽

Low Pass ◽

Contralateral Ear ◽

Number Of Individuals ◽

Insight Into ◽

Vocoded Speech

Purpose An increasing number of individuals with residual or even normal contralateral hearing are being considered for cochlear implantation. It remains unknown whether the presence of contralateral hearing is beneficial or detrimental to their perceptual learning of cochlear implant (CI)–processed speech. The aim of this experiment was to provide a first insight into this question using acoustic simulations of CI processing. Method Sixty normal-hearing listeners took part in an auditory perceptual learning experiment. Each subject was randomly assigned to one of three groups of 20 referred to as NORMAL, LOWPASS, and NOTHING. The experiment consisted of two test phases separated by a training phase. In the test phases, all subjects were tested on recognition of monosyllabic words passed through a six-channel “PSHC” vocoder presented to a single ear. In the training phase, which consisted of listening to a 25-min audio book, all subjects were also presented with the same vocoded speech in one ear but the signal they received in their other ear differed across groups. The NORMAL group was presented with the unprocessed speech signal, the LOWPASS group with a low-pass filtered version of the speech signal, and the NOTHING group with no sound at all. Results The improvement in speech scores following training was significantly smaller for the NORMAL than for the LOWPASS and NOTHING groups. Conclusions This study suggests that the presentation of normal speech in the contralateral ear reduces or slows down perceptual learning of vocoded speech but that an unintelligible low-pass filtered contralateral signal does not have this effect. Potential implications for the rehabilitation of CI patients with partial or full contralateral hearing are discussed.

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