Title | Multiple stages of learning in perceptual categorization: evidence and neurocomputational theory |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2015 |
Authors | Cantwell, G., Crossley M. J., & Ashby F. G. |
Journal | Psychonomic Bulletin & Review |
Volume | 22 |
Issue | 6 |
Pagination | 1598-1613 |
Date Published | 2015 Dec |
ISSN | 1531-5320 |
Keywords | Humans, Models, Psychological, Neuronal Plasticity, Psychological Theory, Reversal Learning |
Abstract | Virtually all current theories of category learning assume that humans learn new categories by gradually forming associations directly between stimuli and responses. In information-integration category-learning tasks, this purported process is thought to depend on procedural learning implemented via dopamine-dependent cortical-striatal synaptic plasticity. This article proposes a new, neurobiologically detailed model of procedural category learning that, unlike previous models, does not assume associations are made directly from stimulus to response. Rather, the traditional stimulus-response (S-R) models are replaced with a two-stage learning process. Multiple streams of evidence (behavioral, as well as anatomical and fMRI) are used as inspiration for the new model, which synthesizes evidence of multiple distinct cortical-striatal loops into a neurocomputational theory. An experiment is reported to test a priori predictions of the new model that: (1) recovery from a full reversal should be easier than learning new categories equated for difficulty, and (2) reversal learning in procedural tasks is mediated within the striatum via dopamine-dependent synaptic plasticity. The results confirm the predictions of the new two-stage model and are incompatible with existing S-R models. |
DOI | 10.3758/s13423-015-0827-2 |
Alternate Journal | Psychon Bull Rev |
PubMed ID | 25917141 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC4624621 |
Grant List | P01 NS044393 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States R01 MH063760 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States 2R01MH063760 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States P01NS044393 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States |