Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026

An Emerging Target Paradigm to Evoke Fast Visuomotor Responses on Human Upper Limb Muscles
Published on: August 25, 2020
The rapid emergence of stimulus specific perceptual learning
Zahra Hussain1, Paul V McGraw, Allison B Sekuler
1School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Nottingham, UK.
Abstract:
Is stimulus specific perceptual learning the result of extended practice or does it emerge early in the time course of learning? We examined this issue by manipulating the amount of practice given on a face identification task on Day 1, and altering the familiarity of stimuli on Day 2. We found that a small number of trials was sufficient to produce stimulus specific perceptual learning of faces: on Day 2, response accuracy decreased by the same amount for novel stimuli regardless of whether observers practiced 105 or 840 trials on Day 1. Current models of learning assume early procedural improvements followed by late stimulus specific gains. Our results show that stimulus specific and procedural improvements are distributed throughout the time course of learning.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Parallel Processing
Perception
Bottom-up processing begins at the sensory level, where receptors detect external environmental stimuli. These could include the tactile sensation of...
Purposive Learning
Subliminal Perception
Cognitive Learning
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
Long-term Potentiation

