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Concept Learning, Perceptual Fluency, and Expert Classification

Zeigler, Derek E.,
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1468418263

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Experimental Psychology (Arts and Sciences).
The way in which category specific knowledge is acquired over time has been a longstanding central topic in the cognitive and perceptual sciences. Accordingly, the influence of training and experience on learning has been the focus of much empirical work. This research often involves accounting for the results of concept learning tasks that necessitate classifying category members and non-members. Studies in this area explore questions like the following. Can different concepts be ordered by their relative learning difficulty? Does repeated exposure to a concept result in perceptual expertise and/or expert classification? Is concept acquisition inherently easier for some individuals? The relative difficulty between categories tells us something fundamental about the conceptual system by revealing which relational structures humans are most sensitive. As such, concept learning difficulty orderings for categorical stimuli form an important part of the empirical foundation of concept learning research. However, it is rare that the stability of such orderings is tested over a period of extended learning. Further, this research rarely explores dependent variables beyond classification accuracy that may also indicate relative learning difficulty. Accordingly, this investigation explores the relationship between accuracy and response times (RTs) when practice is gained over multiple category learning sessions. Of particular interest is the extent to which the relative learning difficulty between categories remains stable over sessions of learning. Of additional interest are measures of perceptual fluency (classification RTs) that might reflect category difficulty. Learning difficulty orderings in terms of classification RTs provide an alternative to the conventional approach that construes difficulty solely in terms of mean proportion of correct/incorrect responses. In light of recent empirical support for an invariance–based structural account of conceptual representations (Vigo, 2011a; 2013; 2014), the acquired data is interpreted in the context of generalized invariance structure theory (GIST; Vigo, 2013, 2014) in order to reveal how task experience influences the way concepts are learned and represented over time.
Ronaldo Vigo (Committee Chair)
145 p.
Cognitive Psychology
concept learning; categorization; perceptual fluency; expertise

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Zeigler, , D. E. (2016). Concept Learning, Perceptual Fluency, and Expert Classification [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1468418263

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Zeigler, , Derek. Concept Learning, Perceptual Fluency, and Expert Classification. 2016. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1468418263.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Zeigler, , Derek. "Concept Learning, Perceptual Fluency, and Expert Classification." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1468418263

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1468418263
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© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.