PRACTICE EFFECTS FOR AUDITORY LOCALIZATION - TEST OF A DIFFERENTIATION THEORY OF PERCEPTUAL LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Practice and transfer of practice in an auditory localization task were observed for 3 different information conditions (normal, transformed and reduced), using human subjects to examine 4 aspects of Gibson''s (1969) differentiation theory of perceptual learning and development. Support was found for the propositions that; dimensions of difference, rather than prototypes, were learned; specificity was a more appropriate response measure than number of correct responses; perceptual learning occurred regardless of whether feedback was given or not; and transfer of practice was greater if dimensions of difference (as opposed to prototypes) were learned. Feedback during practice did not affect transfer. In an apparent contradiction, specificity increased in the absence of dimensions of difference. This increase was interpreted as being associated with the detection of non-task-related information and was seen as lending support to Gibson''s hypothesis that perceptual learning was motivated by intrinsic cognitive drive and was terminated by a reduction in subjective uncertainty.