title: Perceptual learning without signal.
abstract: Perceptual learning is characterized by an improvement in a perceptual task following practice. Several studies have demonstrated that top-down processes, such as attention and task-related expectations, can be necessary components of perceptual learning [Ahissar & Hochstein, 1993, 2000, 2002; Fahle & Morgan, 1996; Seitz, Lefebvre, Watanabe, & Jolicoeur, 2005; Seitz, Nanez, Holloway, Koyama, & Watanabe, 2005; Seitz & Watanabe, 2003; Shiu & Pashler, 1992]. Here, we report an experiment that isolated top-down processes in perceptual learning, using a variant of the Gosselin and Schyns (1992) no-signal procedure. Results indicate that top-down processes can be sufficient to produce substantial, possibly long-lasting and rotation-invariant perceptual learning.
authors.affiliation: Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal, Qué., Canada H3C 3J7. nicolas@dupuis.ca
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dupuis-Roy
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gosselin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011601:Psychophysics; D012399:Rotation