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.

Keywords:

• Vision
• Visual perceptual learning
• Reward
• Operant conditioning
• Contingency

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

This study was supported by NIH [grant number R01 EY015980].

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

This study was supported by NIH [grant number R01 EY015980].