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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning
Published on: November 2, 2012
The dimensionality of perceptual category learning: a state-trace analysis
Ben R Newell1, John C Dunn, Michael Kalish
1University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ben.newell@unsw.edu.au
Abstract:
State-trace analysis was used to investigate the effect of concurrent working memory load on perceptual category learning. Initial reanalysis of Zeithamova and Maddox (2006, Experiment 1) revealed an apparently two-dimensional state-trace plot consistent with a dual-system interpretation of category learning. However, three modified replications of the original experiment found evidence of a single resource underlying the learning of both rule-based and information integration category structures. Follow-up analyses of the Zeithamova and Maddox data, restricted to only those participants who had learned the category task and performed the concurrent working memory task adequately, revealed a one-dimensional plot consistent with a single-resource interpretation and the results of the three new experiments. The results highlight the potential of state-trace analysis in furthering our understanding of the mechanisms underlying category learning.
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