title: Visual perceptual learning by operant conditioning training follows rules of contingency.
abstract: Visual perceptual learning (VPL) can occur as a result of a repetitive stimulus-reward pairing in the absence of any task. This suggests that rules that guide Conditioning, such as stimulus-reward contingency (e.g. that stimulus predicts the likelihood of reward), may also guide the formation of VPL. To address this question, we trained subjects with an operant conditioning task in which there were contingencies between the response to one of three orientations and the presence of reward. Results showed that VPL only occurred for positive contingencies, but not for neutral or negative contingencies. These results suggest that the formation of VPL is influenced by similar rules that guide the process of Conditioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Box 1821, 190 Thayer Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA ; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 677 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Dongho
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Aaron R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Seitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Box 1821, 190 Thayer Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
keywords: Contingency; Operant Conditioning; Reward; Vision; Visual perceptual learning