Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Perceptual Constancy01:12

Perceptual Constancy

941
Perceptual constancy is the ability to recognize that objects remain consistent and unchanged even when their appearance varies due to changes in sensory input. There are four main types of perceptual constancy: size constancy, shape constancy, color constancy, and brightness constancy.
Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...
941
Gestalt Principles of Perception01:21

Gestalt Principles of Perception

821
Gestalt principles provide a framework for understanding how humans perceive objects as unified wholes within their context. These principles are essential in explaining the cognitive processes that make sense of complex visual stimuli by organizing them into coherent groups. One fundamental principle is proximity, which posits that objects located close to each other are perceived as a collective group. For instance, when dots are positioned near one another, the visual system interprets them...
821
Factors Affecting Perception01:25

Factors Affecting Perception

2.3K
Perception is influenced by perceptual set, context, motivation, and emotion. Perceptual set, or perceptual expectancy, refers to the tendency to perceive things in a particular way, influenced by previous experiences and expectations. This phenomenon affects the interpretation of stimuli, creating a set of mental tendencies and assumptions that impact sensory perceptions of sound, taste, touch, and sight.
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...
2.3K
Cognitive Learning01:21

Cognitive Learning

835
Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight 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...
835
Purposive Learning01:22

Purposive Learning

297
E. C. Tolman emphasized the purposiveness of behavior — the idea that much of our behavior is goal-directed. For instance, employees who aim for a promotion work diligently to meet their targets. Tolman argued that when classical conditioning and operant conditioning occur, the organism acquires certain expectations. In classical conditioning, a child might fear a dog because they expect it to bite. In operant conditioning, a person might consistently work overtime because they expect a...
297
Perception01:28

Perception

808
Perception is a fundamental psychological process that enables individuals to organize, interpret, and consciously experience sensory information. This process is crucial for understanding and interacting with the world around us. It includes both bottom-up and top-down processing, each playing a distinct role in how we perceive our environment.
Bottom-up processing begins at the sensory level, where receptors detect external environmental stimuli. These could include the tactile sensation of...
808

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Extinction of conditioned flavor preferences.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2022
Same author

Assessing the inhibitory properties of a latent inhibitor in flavor-aversion learning.

Learning & behavior·2021
Same author

Sucrose-based flavor preferences in rats: Factors affecting detection of extinction.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2021
Same author

When the stimulus is predicted and what the stimulus predicts: Alternative accounts of habituation.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2020
Same journal

Time does the teaching.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2026
Same journal

Language learning in canines and toddlers: Shared origins?

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2026
Same journal

The role of outcome affective value in driving human Pavlovian learning.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2026
Same journal

Crashing the tea party: Imagining alternative explanations.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2026
Same journal

Static outcomes: Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation at Fp3 or P3 does not modulate perceptual learning as indexed by the intermixed-blocked effect.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2026
Same journal

A method for visual psychophysics based on the navigational behavior of desert ants (Melophorus bagoti).

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 19, 2025

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss
07:12

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

692

Some unresolved issues in perceptual learning.

Geoffrey Hall1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of York.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Learning and Cognition
|February 1, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Perceptual learning improves discrimination between similar stimuli (AX and BX) after pre-exposure. This enhancement is particularly effective when stimuli are intermixed, suggesting comparison plays a key role.

More Related Videos

Stereoacuity Improvement using Random-Dot Video Games
06:25

Stereoacuity Improvement using Random-Dot Video Games

Published on: January 14, 2020

14.7K
An Operant Intra-/Extra-dimensional Set-shift Task for Mice
08:35

An Operant Intra-/Extra-dimensional Set-shift Task for Mice

Published on: January 22, 2016

12.5K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Nov 19, 2025

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss
07:12

Development of a Gaze-Contingent Display Framework Designed for Perceptual and Oculomotor Research with Simulated Central Vision Loss

Published on: April 11, 2025

692
Stereoacuity Improvement using Random-Dot Video Games
06:25

Stereoacuity Improvement using Random-Dot Video Games

Published on: January 14, 2020

14.7K
An Operant Intra-/Extra-dimensional Set-shift Task for Mice
08:35

An Operant Intra-/Extra-dimensional Set-shift Task for Mice

Published on: January 22, 2016

12.5K

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Perception

Background:

  • Perceptual learning enhances stimulus discrimination through pre-exposure.
  • Theories focus on how stimulus exposure alters feature effectiveness (processing and response control).
  • Uncertainties remain regarding the precise mechanisms underlying perceptual learning.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore theoretical interpretations of perceptual learning.
  • To investigate the role of common (X) and unique (A, B) stimulus elements.
  • To examine the impact of stimulus comparison on perceptual learning.

Main Methods:

  • Subjects (human and nonhuman) pre-exposed to similar stimuli (AX and BX).
  • Pre-exposure involved intermixed presentations of AX and BX.
  • Post-pre-exposure testing of discrimination ability between AX and BX.

Main Results:

  • Pre-exposure procedure enhances discrimination performance.
  • Intermixed stimulus presentations appear to facilitate this enhancement.
  • The effectiveness of common and unique stimulus features is debated.

Conclusions:

  • Further research is needed to fully understand perceptual learning mechanisms.
  • Investigating the reduced effectiveness of common elements and enhanced effectiveness of unique elements is crucial.
  • The role of stimulus comparison in perceptual learning requires further experimental validation.