Abstract
The effect of a sequentially presented memory scanning task on rule-based and informationintegration category learning was investigated. On each trial in the short feedback-processing time condition, memory scanning immediately followed categorization. On each trial in the long feedbackprocessing time condition, categorization was followed by a 2.5-sec delay and then memory scanning. In the control condition, no memory scanning was required. Rule-based category learning was significantly worse in the short feedback-processing time condition than in the long feedback-processing time condition or control condition, whereas information-integration category learning was equivalent across conditions. In the rule-based condition, a smaller proportion of observers learned the task in the short feedback-processing time condition, and those who learned took longer to reach the performance criterion than did those in the long feedback-processing time or control condition. No differences were observed in the information integration task. These results provide support for a multiple-systems approach to category learning and argue against the validity of single-system approaches.
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This research was supported in part by National Institutes of Health Grant R01 MH59196 to W.T.M., Public Health Service Grant MH3760 to F.G.A., and a McDonnell-Pew Consortium grant.
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Maddox, W.T., Ashby, F.G., Ing, A.D. et al. Disrupting feedback processing interferes with rule-based but not information-integration category learning. Memory & Cognition 32, 582–591 (2004). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195849
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195849