Transfer of perceptual learning: role of tactual-kinesthetic feedback reexamined.
Albino rats were pre-exposed to stimuli in an otherwise visually sparse environment, with visibility and opportunity to manipulate the forms controlled during rearing. Analysis indicated that pre-exposing animals to stimuli which provided either tactual-kinesthetic feedback or highly visible forms significantly facilitated subsequent discrimination learning. The findings question the adequacy of either an attention-getting or tactual-kinesthetic feedback to account for differences in transfer effects in studies using two- and three-dimensional forms. It is suggested that the visibility of the forms and the opportunity to inspect the forms during pre-exposure is the important variable in studies of this type.
D000818:Animals; D003867:Depth Perception; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005246:Feedback; D005556:Form Perception; D007699:Kinesthesis; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D014110:Touch; D014163:Transfer, Psychology