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The Effect of Training Context on Fixations Made During Visual Discriminations

The Effect of Training Context on Fixations Made During Visual Discriminations Randy J. Brou (Rbrou@Inst.Msstate.Edu) 1 Teena M. Garrison (Teenag@Cavs.Msstate.Edu) 2 Stephanie M. Doane (Sdoane@Doane.Inst.Msstate.Edu) 1 Gary L. Bradshaw (Glb2@Msstate.Edu) 3 Institute for Neurocognitive Science and Technology, 1207 Hwy 182 West Starkville, MS 39759 USA Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, 200 Research Blvd. Starkville, MS 39759 USA Department of Psychology, P.O. Box 6161 Mississippi State, MS 39762 USA Abstract through practice to eliminate redundant comparisons during task performance. If this were true, then initial training leading to the development of optimal strategies would lead to superior transfer performance. The current research builds on the work of Doane and colleagues (Doane, Alderton, Sohn, & Pelligrino, 1996; Doane, Sohn, & Schreiber, 1999), which showed that visual discrimination skills consisted of both stimulus-specific and strategic processing elements. Doane et al. (1999) trained participants to discriminate between polygons that varied in similarity and complexity. Some of the participants were initially trained to discriminate between very similar polygons (difficult training), while others were initially trained to discriminate between dissimilar polygons (easy training). After completing 960 training trials, both training groups were transferred to another stimulus set, and had to make discriminations between very similar novel polygons. Participants trained to make difficult discriminations were more accurate at discriminating between novel polygons, and their advantage lasted for at least 1900 more trials. In effect, Doane et al.’s (1996; 1999) difficult training group learned to use a superior processing strategy that they were able to transfer to the novel stimuli. The results supported the information reduction hypothesis, but differences in processing strategies across training groups could only be inferred by transfer performance. The information reduction hypothesis would be further supported by finding evidence for differences in processing strategies used by the two training groups. For example, Doane et al. have suggested that participants trained in the difficult condition learn to use a point-by-point comparison strategy. Such a strategy would involve making successive comparisons between individual corresponding features on each of the to-be-compared stimuli, terminating either when a difference was found or when no features remained to be compared (Fisher & Tanner, 1992). As the stimuli are learned through repeated exposure, this point-by-point comparison strategy should become more refined, focusing only on points that change between the standards and the comparison polygons. Alternatively, Doane et al. (1996; 1999) suggested that participants trained in the easy condition develop an unconstrained and early terminating feature search. This The present research probed the relationship between the difficulty of initial training and the nature of the resulting strategic visual skills. Participants were trained to discriminate between polygons that varied in similarity and were then transferred to a novel stimulus set of similar polygons. Eye movements were recorded during both training and transfer, providing information about the acquisition and transfer of a strategic visual discrimination skill. The results suggest that training difficulty affects the processing strategies developed by participants: Participants trained on difficult stimuli initially allocated more fixations to higher complexity stimuli. These participants exhibited superior transfer performance, potentially because they learned to optimize their allocation of fixations. Participants trained on easy stimuli developed less optimal strategic skills and did not sufficiently modify these skills at transfer. Keywords: Strategic Discrimination. Skill; Eye Movements; Visual Introduction In many real-life situations, people are asked to determine whether two objects are the “same as” or “different from” each other (just think about selecting a pair of dark socks that should be the same from a drawer full of “singles”). Clearly there is a strong influence of experience on discrimination skill: people improve with practice (e.g., Logan, 1988). At question here is the nature of the discrimination skill: how general or specific is it, and how does initial training difficulty impact its development? Several theories of stimulus processing relevant to the theoretical question of interest have been advanced (e.g., Fisher & Tanner, 1992; Haider & Frensch, 1996; Logan, 1988). In Logan’s view, stimuli must be processed algorithmically when initially encountered, but as the number of exposures to specific stimuli increase, the processing gives way to direct retrieval of a response. Thus, Logan would predict a stimulus-specific improvement in performance over time, but would not predict initial training to impact the processing of novel stimuli. Haider and Frensch, on the other hand, postulate an improvement in performance that is not tied to the specific stimuli, but rather to the strategy used for processing stimuli in general. Their information reduction hypothesis states that people learn