ERIC Number: EJ1191920
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Sep
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Effect of Feedback Delay on Perceptual Category Learning and Item Memory: Further Limits of Multiple Systems
Stephens, Rachel G.; Kalish, Michael L.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v44 n9 p1397-1413 Sep 2018
Delayed feedback during categorization training has been hypothesized to differentially affect 2 systems that underlie learning for rule-based (RB) or information-integration (II) structures. We tested an alternative possibility: that II learning requires more precise item representations than RB learning, and so is harmed more by a delay interval filled with a confusable mask. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the effect of feedback delay on memory for RB and II exemplars, both without and with concurrent categorization training. Without the training, II items were indeed more difficult to recognize than RB items, but there was no detectable effect of delay on item memory. In contrast, with concurrent categorization training, there were effects of both category structure and delayed feedback on item memory, which were related to corresponding changes in category learning. However, we did not observe the critical selective impact of delay on II classification performance that has been shown previously. Our own results were also confirmed in a follow-up study (Experiment 3) involving only categorization training. The selective influence of feedback delay on II learning appears to be contingent on the relative size of subgroups of high-performing participants, and in fact does not support that RB and II category learning are qualitatively different. We conclude that a key part of successfully solving perceptual categorization problems is developing more precise item representations, which can be impaired by delayed feedback during training. More important, the evidence for multiple systems of category learning is even weaker than previously proposed.
Descriptors: Classification, Memory, Feedback (Response), Learning, Time Factors (Learning), Training, Recognition (Psychology), College Students
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York (Syracuse)
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1461365
Author Affiliations: N/A