Effects Of Perceptual Training Research Articles

FMRI Reveals a Common Neural Substrate of Illusory and Real Contours in V1 after Perceptual Learning

Perceptual learning involves the specific and relatively permanent modification of perception following a sensory experience. In psychophysical experiments, the specificity of the learning effects to the trained stimulus attributes (e.g., visual field position or stimulus orientation) is often attributed to assumed neural modifications at an early cortical site within the visual processing hierarchy. We directly investigated a neural correlate of perceptual learning in the primary visual cortex using fMRI. Twenty volunteers practiced a curvature discrimination on Kanizsa-type illusory contours in the MR scanner. Practice-induced changes in the BOLD response to illusory contours were compared between the pretraining and the posttraining block in those areas of the primary visual cortex (V1) that, in the same session, had been identified to represent real contours at corresponding visual field locations. A retinotopically specific BOLD signal increase to illusory contours was observed as a consequence of the training, possibly signaling the formation of a contour representation, which is necessary for performing the curvature discrimination. The effects of perceptual training were maintained over a period of about 10 months, and they were specific to the trained visual field position. The behavioral specificity of the learning effects supports an involvement of V1 in perceptual learning, and not in unspecific attentional effects.

The education of attention in aiming at a far target: Training visual control in basketball jump shooting

We examined the effects of perceptual training on basketball jump shooting using a combination of single‐subject and group design. Six participants received eight weeks of visual control training in which they only had vision during the final ∼350 ms before ball release (the final period). Taking an ecological approach to perceptual learning, we expected that this would force participants to pick up relevant information until ball release, allowing for the use of the latest possible update of the relative target position. The training consisted of shooting from behind a screen and shooting while wearing liquid‐crystal goggles. Participants increased their final period duration. In addition, they increased their field goal and three‐point percentages in games, in contrast to four control participants from the same team. It is concluded that visual control training can change the temporal pattern of shooting and improve performance by enhancing the timing of information detection.

The effect of perceptual training on the identification of a non‐native phoneme contrast and its relationship to the MMN auditory evoked potential

The mismatch negativity (MMN) auditory evoked potential reflects the detection of minimal stimulus differences at a pre‐attentive level. It has been reported that the MMN reflects acoustic, rather than phonetic processing of speech stimuli. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of perceptual training on (1) the behavioral ability of native speakers of American English to label a pair of Hindi stop consonants, and (2) the presence or absence of the MMN. Hindi voiceless unaspirated stop consonants contrasted by dental and retroflexplace of articulation ([t̪ versus [Ṡ]) were used. Prior to training, the MMN was present in 4 of 12 listeners and labeling ability was poor. Ten perceptual training sessions resulted in significant improvement in labeling ability. There was some generalization to a different voicing contrast (voiced unaspirated Hindi stop consonants [d̪] versus [ḍ]). There was also a significant increase in the number of listeners demonstrating an MMN in response to both contrasts after training. The group of listeners who had MMN responses after training also had significantly higher change scores from pre‐test to post‐test on the behavioral task. These results suggest that the MMN may have utility as an objective indicator of learning.

The Effectiveness of Perceptual Training and Psychosocial Counseling in Adjustment to the Loss of Vision

This study evaluated the effects of perceptual training and psychological counseling (both individual and group) on adjustment to vision loss in 49 elderly persons with low vision. Overall, the interventions improved the participants’ visual functioning and beliefs about the loss of vision, and follow-up interviews revealed that these improvements were maintained three to six months after the study ended.

The effect of perceptual training on ability to use the Vocal Profile Analysis Scheme.

The Vocal Profile Analysis Scheme (VPAS) (Laver et al. 1981) is the vocal perceptual scheme most often used by British speech and language therapists. In this study, the voices of four speakers with normal voices and four with a voice disorder were recorded in reading and independently rated on the VPAS protocol by Dr Sheila Wirz and by the author. Inter-judge reliability was established and agreement reached in judging the twenty vocal quality features for each speaker. Thirty eight speech and language therapists were assessed on their ability to describe the voices. Significant improvement was found in the ability to rate features. These findings suggest that the use of a perceptual scheme can be a reliable part of voice assessment in both therapy and research.

Effects of perceptual training based upon synthesized voice signals.

28 undergraduate students participated in a perceptual voice experiment to assess the effects of training utilizing synthesized voice signals. An instructional strategy based upon synthesized examples of a three-part classification system: "breathy," "rough," and "hoarse," was employed. Training samples were synthesized with varying amounts of jitter (cycle-to-cycle deviation in pitch period) and harmonic-to-noise ratios to represent these qualities. Before training, listeners categorized 60 pathological voices into "breathy," "rough," and "hoarse," largely on the basis of fundamental frequency. After training, categorizations were influenced by harmonic-to-noise ratios as well as fundamental frequency, suggesting that listeners were more aware of spectral differences in pathological voices associated with commonly occurring laryngeal conditions. 40% of the pathological voice samples remained unclassified following training.

Effects of perceptual training of sequenced line movements.

The effects of consistent training on sequential stimuli were examined in a series of six experiments. A stimulus consisted of three line segments which occurred one after another such that each line segment’s orientation and position on the visual channel could be different from the other lines of the stimulus. Subjects practiced these sequences in search and detection tasks for 17 h in both varied mapping (VM) and consistent mapping (CM) conditions. Subsequent experiments compared performance on the two practice conditions with results of previous experiments which used letters and digits as stimuli. The results indicated that the CM stimuli required less attention than the VM stimuli. The differences seen, however, were smaller than those found in previous experiments with letter and digit stimuli. Large differences between the CM and VM groups were found when the individual line segments of the sequential stimuli were manipulated. Shortening and lengthening the line durations had little effect on CM stimuli and large effects on VM stimuli. When the line segments were overlapped with each other, subjects indicated, in a subjective ratings task, that the CM and VM stimuli were perceived differently. Finally, presenting rotated versions of the trained stimuli destroyed any performance advantages the CM stimuli had over the VM stimuli.

Effects of Perceptual Training on the Salience of Information in a Recall Problem

Effects of Perceptual Training on the Salience of Information in a Recall Problem

Effects of Perceptual Training on the Salience of Information in a Recall Problem

Kindergarten children were given a salience-assessment task to determine each child's salience hierarchy for the dimensions of form, color, and position. The children were then assigned to either a control condition or one of 3 conditions providing different types of perceptual training with the child's least salient dimension. In a subsequent location recall task, children in all 3 training groups made significantly fewer errors recalling values of their least salient dimension than children in the control group. The results indicated that perceptual exposure alone was sufficient to increase the perceptual salience of the least salient dimension and its subsequent conceptual evaluation.

The Effects of Search Practice and Perceptual Training upon Representational Drawing

While growth in visual perception is an accepted goal of the field, most of the studies concerning the effects of perceptual training upon particular kinds of art activities are recent. Several investigators have reported positive effects of perceptual training strategies on subjects' modes of perception and/or two-dimensional drawing performances (Salome, 1965; Rennels, 1969; Salome and Reeves, 1972; Dorethy, 1973). In drawing, the individual has to develop efficiency in searching for critical cues in stimulus objects and similarities and differences in various kinds of visual information. These abilities appear to affect accuracy of recognition, identification, and delineation of visual objects and patterns. Neisser, Novick, and Lazar's (1963) investigation of the visual scanning procedure provided the basis for the assumption that the process of recognition is hierarchically organized. Before an individual decides that the letter Z, for example, is present in a list of items, he makes prior decisions about subordinate features such as parallel lines and angles. Neisser (1963, 1964) found that visual scanning practice enables subjects to develop unusual skill in searching for and differentiating multiple targets from background items. A list of 50 items arranged in a single spaced column was presented to subjects. Each-item was a string of letters which were scanned down from the top. Results indicated that, when searching for a target in a random context of a 50line list of letters or numbers, the time per item a person scanned tended to decrease rapidly and stabilized at about 19 lines per second after 14 days of practice. Practiced subjects were able to search for 10 targets at once as efficiently as for a single one. Neisser (1967) concluded that, with practice, subjects discover perceptual operations that seem to be minimally sufficient for the problem. For example, the subject need not identify the K as he would if he named it. He need only discover the minimal features such as curves, iagonals, or intersections which are not shared by the context letters. Gibson (1969) posited that the subjects of these experiments must be learning to narrow down the search to a minimal

The Effects of Search Practice and Perceptual Training upon Representational Drawing

While growth in visual perception is an accepted goal of the field, most of the studies concerning the effects of perceptual training upon particular kinds of art activities are recent. Several investigators have reported positive effects of perceptual training strategies on subjects' modes of perception and/or two-dimensional drawing performances (Salome, 1965; Rennels, 1969; Salome and Reeves, 1972; Dorethy, 1973). In drawing, the individual has to develop efficiency in searching for critical cues in stimulus objects and similarities and differences in various kinds of visual information. These abilities appear to affect accuracy of recognition, identification, and delineation of visual objects and patterns. Neisser, Novick, and Lazar's (1963) investigation of the visual scanning procedure provided the basis for the assumption that the process of recognition is hierarchically organized. Before an individual decides that the letter Z, for example, is present in a list of items, he makes prior decisions about subordinate features such as parallel lines and angles. Neisser (1963, 1964) found that visual scanning practice enables subjects to develop unusual skill in searching for and differentiating multiple targets from background items. A list of 50 items arranged in a single spaced column was presented to subjects. Each-item was a string of letters which were scanned down from the top. Results indicated that, when searching for a target in a random context of a 50line list of letters or numbers, the time per item a person scanned tended to decrease rapidly and stabilized at about 19 lines per second after 14 days of practice. Practiced subjects were able to search for 10 targets at once as efficiently as for a single one. Neisser (1967) concluded that, with practice, subjects discover perceptual operations that seem to be minimally sufficient for the problem. For example, the subject need not identify the K as he would if he named it. He need only discover the minimal features such as curves, iagonals, or intersections which are not shared by the context letters. Gibson (1969) posited that the subjects of these experiments must be learning to narrow down the search to a minimal

Effects of perceptual training on children's human figure drawings.

(1971). Effects of Perceptual Training on Children's Human Figure Drawings. The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Vol. 119, No. 2, pp. 281-287.

An experimental study of visual perceptual training and reading achievement in first grade.

To determine the effects of perceptual training upon selected measures of reading achievement in first grade, 12 experimental classrooms received a 29-day adaptation of the Frostig program for the development of visual perception while 13 control classrooms added comparable time to regular reading instruction. Analysis of the data revealed significant differences between treatment groups in certain post-training perceptual capabilities without concomitant effects on dependent measures. Additional findings strongly suggest need for further research.

The Effects of Perceptual Training and Modes of Perceiving upon Individual Differences in Ability to Learn Perspective Drawing

The Effects of Perceptual Training and Modes of Perceiving upon Individual Differences in Ability to Learn Perspective Drawing

The Effects of Perceptual Training upon the Two-Dimensional Drawings of Children

The Effects of Perceptual Training upon the Two-Dimensional Drawings of Children

Bibliography on the Education of Socially Disadvantaged Children and Youth

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Effects of perceptual training at three age levels.

Children 6, 7, and 8 years old were first tested for their ability to reverse figure and ground and then given special training in this skill. Although all the children's ability improved greatly with practice, the initial differences between the age groups were still apparent both immediately and 1 month after training.

The effects of perceptual training on the Rorschach W and Z scores.

The effects of perceptual training on the Rorschach W and Z scores.

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Perceptual Training on Group I.Q. Test Scores of Elementary Pupils in Rural Ungraded Schools

This study was designed around two methods groups, an experimen tal methods group exposed to exercises with visual perceptual mate rials, and a control group which participated in the testing program, but continued with the regular school program. The experiment was confined to samples of intact classes drawn from the population of rural one or two teacher elementary schools in a Virginia county. The experiment was duplicated in white and Negro schools. A white and a Negro experimental group were selected, and a white and a Negro control group were selected. White and Negro experimental groups received similar training with identical materials. Results from the duplicated experiments (white and Negro) were treated se parately. The pupils in the white schools were about evenly divided among grades one, two, and three. There were 25 pupils in the white experi mental group and 28 pupils in the white control group. The pupils in the Negro schools were about evenly divided among grades one, two, three, and four. There were 29 pupils in the Negro experimental group and 22 pupils in the Negro control group. In all these schools the grade designations were simply for classi fication purposes, for each group was an intact classroom group un der a single teacher.