title: Cross-modal information integration in category learning.
abstract: An influential theoretical perspective describes an implicit category-learning system that associates regions of perceptual space with response outputs by integrating information preattentionally and predecisionally across multiple stimulus dimensions. In this study, we tested whether this kind of implicit, information-integration category learning is possible across stimulus dimensions lying in different sensory modalities. Humans learned categories composed of conjoint visual-auditory category exemplars comprising a visual component (rectangles varying in the density of contained lit pixels) and an auditory component (in Exp. 1, auditory sequences varying in duration; in Exp. 2, pure tones varying in pitch). The categories had either a one-dimensional, rule-based solution or a two-dimensional, information-integration solution. Humans could solve the information-integration category tasks by integrating information across two stimulus modalities. The results demonstrated an important cross-modal form of sensory integration in the service of category learning, and they advance the field's knowledge about the sensory organization of systems for categorization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Buffalo, The State University of New York, 346 Park Hall, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA, psysmith@buffalo.edu.
authors.forename: J David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Jennifer J R
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Musgrave
authors.forename: Alexandria C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Zakrzewski
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boomer
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Church
authors.forename: F Gregory
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Ashby
mesh_terms: D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D010897:Pitch Discrimination / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*