Context-dependent benefits of training and reminders in visual skill learning

Abstract

Previous studies using a visual texture discrimination task (TDT) have demonstrated that performance enhancements resulting from extensive daily training (full training condition) remained intact after replacing all training, except for the first and last session, with a few daily reminder trials (reminder condition). Omitting reminders (control condition) yielded only limited learning, supporting their crucial contribution. We first confirmed these findings and excluded gaze position differences among conditions as a contributing factor. Next, we tested whether the reminders effectiveness is specific to a context of limited attention to the peripheral target caused by simultaneously performing a demanding fixation task. Removing the fixation task yielded performance levels in the first session matching those normally reached after lengthy daily training, suggesting that learning in the standard TDT involves the redeployment of attention. After changing texture parameters to increase the difficulty of the task, performing the TDT without a fixation task yielded learning in all three conditions. This indicates that in a dual-task, reminders can produce learning outcomes comparable to full training. In contrast, when the TDT is performed with full attention to the target, consolidation of the initial session alone can yield improvements equivalent to those observed in reminder and full training conditions.