Abstract
Repeated classification of a visually presented stimulus rapidly leads to a form of response learning that bypasses the original evaluation in favor of a more efficient response mechanism. In two experiments, we examined the level of input and output representations that make up this form of learning. In Experiment 1, alterations in the finger mapping of the output response had no effect on the expression of response learning, demonstrating that a classification decision, not motor output, is associated with repeated items. In Experiments 2A and 2B, we tested whether response learning would transfer across different visual exemplars of a studied item. There was no evidence of transfer to different visual exemplars, even when these exemplars were judged to be highly visually similar. Taken together, these results indicate that response learning consists of the formation of an association between a specific visual representation and a classification decision.
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This work was supported by Grants K23MH64004 (D.M.S.) and P50 NS26985 and MH57681 (M.V.) to Boston University, by the Medical Research Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs and by AG08441 (D.L.S.) to Harvard University.
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Schnyer, D.M., Dobbins, I.G., Nicholls, L. et al. Item to decision mapping in rapid response learning. Memory & Cognition 35, 1472–1482 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193617
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193617