RESUMEN
We know little about the mechanisms through which leader-follower dynamics during dyadic play shape infants' language acquisition. We hypothesized that infants' decisions to visually explore a specific object signal focal increases in endogenous attention, and that when caregivers respond to these proactive behaviors by naming the object it boosts infants' word learning. To examine this, we invited caregivers and their 14-mo-old infants to play with novel objects, before testing infants' retention of the novel object-label mappings. Meanwhile, their electroencephalograms were recorded. Results showed that infants' proactive looks toward an object during play associated with greater neural signatures of endogenous attention. Furthermore, when caregivers named objects during these episodes, infants showed greater word learning, but only when caregivers also joined their focus of attention. Our findings support the idea that infants' proactive visual explorations guide their acquisition of a lexicon.
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Desarrollo del Lenguaje , Humanos , Lactante , Femenino , Masculino , Atención/fisiología , Interacción Social , Electroencefalografía , Aprendizaje Verbal/fisiología , Aprendizaje/fisiologíaRESUMEN
Repeated exposure to word forms and meanings improves lexical knowledge acquisition. However, the roles of domain-general and language-specific brain regions during this process remain unclear. To investigate this, we applied intermittent theta burst stimulation over the domain-general (group left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) and domain-specific (Group L IFG) brain regions, with a control group receiving sham intermittent theta burst stimulation. Intermittent theta burst stimulation effects were subsequently assessed in functional magnetic resonance imaging using an artificial word learning task which consisted of 3 learning phases. A generalized psychophysiological interaction analysis explored the whole brain functional connectivity, while dynamic causal modeling estimated causal interactions in specific brain regions modulated by intermittent theta burst stimulation during repeated exposure. Compared to sham stimulation, active intermittent theta burst stimulation improved word learning performance and reduced activation of the left insula in learning phase 2. Active intermittent theta burst stimulation over the domain-general region increased whole-brain functional connectivity and modulated effective connectivity between brain regions during repeated exposure. This effect was not observed when active intermittent theta burst stimulation was applied to the language-specific region. These findings suggest that the domain-general region plays a crucial role in word formation rule learning, with intermittent theta burst stimulation enhancing whole-brain connectivity and facilitating efficient information exchange between key brain regions during new word learning.
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Encéfalo , Lenguaje , Imagen por Resonancia Magnética , Estimulación Magnética Transcraneal , Humanos , Masculino , Femenino , Adulto Joven , Estimulación Magnética Transcraneal/métodos , Encéfalo/fisiología , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagen , Adulto , Cognición/fisiología , Mapeo Encefálico , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Ritmo Teta/fisiología , Aprendizaje Verbal/fisiología , Vías Nerviosas/fisiologíaRESUMEN
Contemporary theories guiding the search for neural mechanisms of learning and memory assume that associative learning results from the temporal pairing of cues and reinforcers resulting in coincident activation of associated neurons, strengthening their synaptic connection. While enduring, this framework has limitations: Temporal pairing-based models of learning do not fit with many experimental observations and cannot be used to make quantitative predictions about behavior. Here, we present behavioral data that support an alternative, information-theoretic conception: The amount of information that cues provide about the timing of reward delivery predicts behavior. Furthermore, this approach accounts for the rate and depth of both inhibitory and excitatory learning across paradigms and species. We also show that dopamine release in the ventral striatum reflects cue-predicted changes in reinforcement rates consistent with subjects understanding temporal relationships between task events. Our results reshape the conceptual and biological framework for understanding associative learning.
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Señales (Psicología) , Dopamina , Aprendizaje , Dopamina/metabolismo , Animales , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Masculino , Recompensa , Aprendizaje por Asociación/fisiología , Ratas , Humanos , Refuerzo en PsicologíaRESUMEN
A social individual needs to effectively manage the amount of complex information in his or her environment relative to his or her own purpose to obtain relevant information. This paper presents a neural architecture aiming to reproduce attention mechanisms (alerting/orienting/selecting) that are efficient in humans during audiovisual tasks in robots. We evaluated the system based on its ability to identify relevant sources of information on faces of subjects emitting vowels. We propose a developmental model of audio-visual attention (MAVA) combining Hebbian learning and a competition between saliency maps based on visual movement and audio energy. MAVA effectively combines bottom-up and top-down information to orient the system toward pertinent areas. The system has several advantages, including online and autonomous learning abilities, low computation time and robustness to environmental noise. MAVA outperforms other artificial models for detecting speech sources under various noise conditions.
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Atención , Robótica , Humanos , Robótica/métodos , Atención/fisiología , Lactante , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Percepción Visual/fisiología , Desarrollo del Lenguaje , Percepción Auditiva/fisiología , LenguajeRESUMEN
Vestibular motion perception declines with age, increasing the risk of falling substantially. We performed a two-week perceptual learning intervention using a self-motion direction discrimination task (2800 training trials per person) on a 6 degrees of freedom motion platform in healthy older adults (n = 40, aged 70-88 yr). Linear inter-aural and angular roll tilt vestibular thresholds improved with training (95% credible interval for pre/post difference), suggesting altered sensitivity post-training. Moreover, improved perceptual abilities transfer to actual posture (reduced sway) and gait parameters. Passive self-motion discrimination training provides a new and promising way to counteract age-related sensory decline. It can reduce the risk of falling, and thereby maintain individual autonomy and quality of life.
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Marcha , Percepción de Movimiento , Postura , Vestíbulo del Laberinto , Humanos , Anciano , Masculino , Femenino , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Marcha/fisiología , Percepción de Movimiento/fisiología , Vestíbulo del Laberinto/fisiología , Postura/fisiología , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Equilibrio Postural/fisiologíaRESUMEN
EFL listening comprehension has been a stark challenge for language learners, but little is known about the combined effect of individual differences, such as working memory capacity, and metacognitive intervention. Thus, the present experimental study investigates the effect of metacognitive intervention on the listening performance and metacognitive awareness of high- and low-WMC EFL learners. For this purpose, Oxford Placement Tests were distributed among 120 male Iranian EFL learners, of which 94 were identified as intermediate. Then, backward visual digit span tests were administered to measure their working memory capacity. Based on the median of all scores, 80 learners were selected and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and two control groups each with 20 participants. Next, their performance on the International English Language Testing System and the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire was measured before and after the 8-session metacognitive intervention. Results showed that high-WMC experimental learners had a higher gain with a large effect size in terms of listening performance compared with all the other groups. In addition, the experimental group learners reported the significantly higher use of the metacognitive strategies with a moderate effect size. Interestingly, low-WMC learners' listening performance and metacognitive awareness also improved as a result of the intervention. Our findings bear pedagogical significance in that individual differences in WMC should be considered more in both EFL language classes and the future line of research involving the metacognitive intervention.
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Memoria a Corto Plazo , Metacognición , Humanos , Metacognición/fisiología , Memoria a Corto Plazo/fisiología , Masculino , Irán , Concienciación/fisiología , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Adulto Joven , Adulto , Comprensión/fisiología , Lenguaje , MultilingüismoRESUMEN
While the sensorimotor cortices are central neural substrates for motor control and learning, how the interaction between their subregions with visual cortices contributes to acquiring de novo visuomotor skills is poorly understood. We design a continuous visuomotor task in fMRI where participants control a cursor using their fingers while learning an arbitrary finger-to-cursor mapping. To investigate visuomotor interaction in the de novo motor task, we manipulate visual feedback of a cursor such that they learn to control using fingers under two alternating conditions: online cursor feedback is available or unavailable except when a target is reached. As a result, we find double dissociation of fMRI activity in subregions of the sensorimotor and visual cortices. Specifically, motor and late visual cortices are more active with online cursor feedback, and somatosensory and early visual cortices are more active without online cursor feedback. We also find a significant reduction in functional connectivity between somatosensory cortices and early visual cortices, which is highly correlated with performance improvement. These findings support the distinct interaction between subregions of sensorimotor cortices and visual cortices, while the connectivity analysis highlights the critical role of somatosensory cortices during de novo motor learning.
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Retroalimentación Sensorial , Aprendizaje , Imagen por Resonancia Magnética , Desempeño Psicomotor , Corteza Visual , Humanos , Masculino , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Femenino , Retroalimentación Sensorial/fisiología , Adulto , Adulto Joven , Corteza Visual/fisiología , Corteza Visual/diagnóstico por imagen , Desempeño Psicomotor/fisiología , Destreza Motora/fisiología , Mapeo Encefálico , Corteza Sensoriomotora/fisiologíaRESUMEN
The word-frequency distributions children hear during language learning are highly skewed (Zipfian). Previous studies suggest that such skewed environments confer a learnability advantage in tasks that require the learner to discover the units that have to be learned, as in word-segmentation or cross-situational learning. This facilitative effect has been attributed to contextual facilitation from high frequency items in learning lower frequency items, and to better learning under the increased predictability (lower entropy) of skewed distributions. Here, we ask whether Zipfian distributions facilitate learning beyond the discovery of units, as expected under the predictability account. We tested children's learning of novel word-referent mappings in a learning task where each mapping was presented in isolation during training, and did not need to be dicovered. We compared learning in a uniform environment to two skewed environments with different entropy levels. Children's learning was overall better in the two skewed environments, even for low frequency items. These results extend the facilitative effect of Zipfian distributions to additional learning tasks and show they can facilitate language learning beyond the discovery of units.
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Desarrollo del Lenguaje , Humanos , Masculino , Femenino , Preescolar , Aprendizaje/fisiología , NiñoRESUMEN
Humans tend to give more weight to information confirming their beliefs than to information that disconfirms them. Nevertheless, this apparent irrationality has been shown to improve individual decision-making under uncertainty. However, little is known about this bias' impact on decision-making in a social context. Here, we investigate the conditions under which confirmation bias is beneficial or detrimental to decision-making under social influence. To do so, we develop a Collective Asymmetric Reinforcement Learning (CARL) model in which artificial agents observe others' actions and rewards, and update this information asymmetrically. We use agent-based simulations to study how confirmation bias affects collective performance on a two-armed bandit task, and how resource scarcity, group size and bias strength modulate this effect. We find that a confirmation bias benefits group learning across a wide range of resource-scarcity conditions. Moreover, we discover that, past a critical bias strength, resource abundance favors the emergence of two different performance regimes, one of which is suboptimal. In addition, we find that this regime bifurcation comes with polarization in small groups of agents. Overall, our results suggest the existence of an optimal, moderate level of confirmation bias for decision-making in a social context.
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Toma de Decisiones , Refuerzo en Psicología , Toma de Decisiones/fisiología , Humanos , Simulación por Computador , Biología Computacional , Recompensa , Sesgo , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Modelos PsicológicosRESUMEN
Many recent artificial intelligence (AI) systems take inspiration from biological episodic memory. Here, we ask how these 'episodic-inspired' AI systems might inform our understanding of biological episodic memory. We discuss work showing that these systems implement some key features of episodic memory while differing in important respects and appear to enjoy behavioural advantages in the domains of strategic decision-making, fast learning, navigation, exploration and acting over temporal distance. We propose that these systems could be used to evaluate competing theories of episodic memory's operations and function. However, further work is needed to validate them as models of episodic memory and isolate the contributions of their memory systems to their behaviour. More immediately, we propose that these systems have a role to play in directing episodic memory research by highlighting novel or neglected hypotheses as pursuit-worthy. In this vein, we propose that the evidence reviewed here highlights two pursuit-worthy hypotheses about episodic memory's function: that it plays a role in planning that is independent of future-oriented simulation, and that it is adaptive in virtue of its contributions to fast learning in novel, sparse-reward environments. This article is part of the theme issue 'Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research'.
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Inteligencia Artificial , Memoria Episódica , Humanos , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Toma de Decisiones/fisiologíaRESUMEN
A decoupling between confidence and action could relate to compulsive behaviour as seen in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The link between confidence and action in OCD has been investigated in clinical case-control studies and in the general population with discrepant findings. The generalizability of findings from highly-compulsive general population samples to clinical OCD samples has been questioned. Here, we investigate action-confidence coupling for 38 OCD patients compared to 37 healthy controls (HC), using a predictive inference task. We compared those results to a comparison between matched high and low compulsive individuals from the general population. Action-updating, confidence and their coupling were compared between the groups. Moreover, computational modeling was performed to compare groups on error sensitivity and environmental parameters. OCD patients showed lower confidence and higher learning rates in reaction to (small) prediction errors than HC, signaling hyperactive error signaling and lower confidence estimation. No evidence was found for differences in action-confidence coupling between groups. In contrast high the compulsive group showed higher confidence and stronger decoupling than the low compulsive group, both of which were related to symptoms. The underlying mechanisms of obsessive-compulsive behaviour might differ between clinical and highly-compulsive general population samples, resulting in different (meta)cognitive profiles.
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Trastorno Obsesivo Compulsivo , Humanos , Trastorno Obsesivo Compulsivo/fisiopatología , Trastorno Obsesivo Compulsivo/psicología , Femenino , Masculino , Adulto , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Adulto Joven , Persona de Mediana EdadRESUMEN
School-aged children have consistently shown a surprising developmental lag when attempting to innovate solutions to tool use tasks, despite being capable of learning to solve these problems from a demonstrator. We suggest that this "innovation gap" arises from tool tasks with more complex spatial relations. Following Fragaszy and Mangalam's new tooling theory, we predicted that innovating a new "sticker slide" task should be more challenging when two tools need to be used at the same time (concurrently) rather than one at a time (sequentially), despite the similarity of the other task elements. In line with previous work, both versions of the task were challenging for all ages of children (4-9 years) that we tested. However, the youngest group showed particularly extreme difficulties, which was marked by not a single child innovating the concurrent version. Although success significantly increased with age, even the oldest group failed to reach 50% success on the concurrent version of the task, whereas the majority of the two older groups could solve the sequential version. Thus, in this first study of concurrent tool use in children, we found support for the prediction that increasing the complexity of spatial relations in tooling exacerbates the innovation gap.
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Aprendizaje , Humanos , Preescolar , Niño , Masculino , Femenino , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Comportamiento del Uso de la Herramienta/fisiología , Solución de Problemas , Desarrollo Infantil/fisiologíaRESUMEN
Academic engagement was recognized as a crucial predictor to measure the effectiveness of online teaching of international students. Therefore, this study established a mediating model to explore the mechanism underlying of interaction and information technology accessibility on academic engagement of international students, as well as the impact of learning interest on these mechanisms with the context of online teaching. Using a stratified random sampling method, 1895 international students from 32 Chinese universities were selected. These international students had completed the academic engagement scale, interaction scale, information technology accessibility scale, and learning interest scale. The study variables were analyzed in sequence for reliability and validity, common method biases test, correlation analysis, structural equation model testing, and bias-corrected percentile Bootstrap testing. The results revealed that online interaction positively affected the academic engagement of international students in Chinese universities (ß= 0.35, p < 0.001), and learning interest played a partial mediating role between online interaction and academic engagement (indirect effect = 0.10, 95 % Boot CI = [0.06, 0.13], p < 0.001). Information technology accessibility did not have a direct impact on academic engagement (ß= 0.06, p > 0.05); but learning interest played a complete mediating role between information technology accessibility and academic engagement (indirect effect = 0.09, 95 % Boot CI = [0.05, 0.11], p < 0.001). The results of Bootstrap showed that the mediating effects within the model were significant. The findings of this study explored the potential mechanism underlying the online academic engagement of international students in Chinese universities, and provided empirical evidence for universities and educators to implement differentiated learning support, assist international students in adapting to online learning styles, and stimulate the endogenous motivation of students' learning.
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Aprendizaje , Estudiantes , Humanos , Estudiantes/psicología , Masculino , China , Universidades , Femenino , Adulto Joven , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Tecnología de la Información , Educación a Distancia , Adulto , AdolescenteRESUMEN
Class demonstrations where the lecturer's hand motor actions are observable generally have a positive effect on the learning of motor skills because they trigger an effortless process of embodied simulations. Whether the learning of cognitive skills is likewise affected by such visualisations is yet to be investigated and might depend on the learning content as well as other factors. This study aimed to investigate whether showing the lecturer's hand via a document camera during an introductory financial accounting class affects student learning (transfer performance), cognitive load responses, and note-taking behaviour compared to a writing pad where the lecturer's hand is not visible. The study utilised a quasi-experimental design in an in-person setting, with a pre-test and post-test comparison of two groups of participants: one group that viewed a lecture video without the lecturer's hand being visible (n = 509), and another group that viewed the same lecture with the lecturer's hand being visible (n = 571). The results showed that the with-hand group had a significantly higher increase in test scores compared to the without-hand group. However, the visibility of the hand did not significantly impact cognitive load or note-taking behaviour. The findings have important practical implications for education, as incorporating non-verbal cues such as the lecturer's hand may effectively enhance learning cognitive skills.
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Cognición , Mano , Aprendizaje , Humanos , Masculino , Femenino , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Mano/fisiología , Cognición/fisiología , Adulto , Destreza Motora/fisiología , Adulto Joven , Estudiantes/psicologíaRESUMEN
Understanding the mechanism by which the brain achieves relatively consistent information processing contrary to its inherent inconsistency in activity is one of the major challenges in neuroscience. Recently, it has been reported that the consistency of neural responses to stimuli that are presented repeatedly is enhanced implicitly in an unsupervised way, and results in improved perceptual consistency. Here, we propose the term "selective consistency" to describe this input-dependent consistency and hypothesize that it will be acquired in a self-organizing manner by plasticity within the neural system. To test this, we investigated whether a reservoir-based plastic model could acquire selective consistency to repeated stimuli. We used white noise sequences randomly generated in each trial and referenced white noise sequences presented multiple times. The results showed that the plastic network was capable of acquiring selective consistency rapidly, with as little as five exposures to stimuli, even for white noise. The acquisition of selective consistency could occur independently of performance optimization, as the network's time-series prediction accuracy for referenced stimuli did not improve with repeated exposure and optimization. Furthermore, the network could only achieve selective consistency when in the region between order and chaos. These findings suggest that the neural system can acquire selective consistency in a self-organizing manner and that this may serve as a mechanism for certain types of learning.
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Biología Computacional , Modelos Neurológicos , Redes Neurales de la Computación , Plasticidad Neuronal , Plasticidad Neuronal/fisiología , Humanos , Aprendizaje Automático no Supervisado , Red Nerviosa/fisiología , Encéfalo/fisiología , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Percepción/fisiologíaRESUMEN
Neural activity in the cortex exhibits a wide range of firing variability and rich correlation structures. Studies on neural coding indicate that correlated neural variability can influence the quality of neural codes, either beneficially or adversely. However, the mechanisms by which correlated neural variability is transformed and processed across neural populations to achieve meaningful computation remain largely unclear. Here we propose a theory of covariance computation with spiking neurons which offers a unifying perspective on neural representation and computation with correlated noise. We employ a recently proposed computational framework known as the moment neural network to resolve the nonlinear coupling of correlated neural variability with a task-driven approach to constructing neural network models for performing covariance-based perceptual tasks. In particular, we demonstrate how perceptual information initially encoded entirely within the covariance of upstream neurons' spiking activity can be passed, in a near-lossless manner, to the mean firing rate of downstream neurons, which in turn can be used to inform inference. The proposed theory of covariance computation addresses an important question of how the brain extracts perceptual information from noisy sensory stimuli to generate a stable perceptual whole and indicates a more direct role that correlated variability plays in cortical information processing.
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Potenciales de Acción , Biología Computacional , Modelos Neurológicos , Neuronas , Neuronas/fisiología , Humanos , Potenciales de Acción/fisiología , Redes Neurales de la Computación , Red Nerviosa/fisiología , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Animales , Simulación por Computador , Encéfalo/fisiologíaRESUMEN
Learning in the everyday environment often requires the flexible integration of relevant multisensory information. Previous research has demonstrated preverbal infants' capacity to extract an abstract rule from audiovisual temporal sequences matched in temporal synchrony. Interestingly, this capacity was recently reported to be modulated by crossmodal correspondence beyond spatiotemporal matching (e.g., consistent facial emotional expressions or articulatory mouth movements matched with sound). To investigate whether such modulatory influence applies to non-social and non-communicative stimuli, we conducted a critical test using audiovisual stimuli free of social information: visually upward (and downward) moving objects paired with a congruent tone of ascending or incongruent (descending) pitch. East Asian infants (8-10 months old) from a metropolitan area in Asia demonstrated successful abstract rule learning in the congruent audiovisual condition and demonstrated weaker learning in the incongruent condition. This implies that preverbal infants use crossmodal dynamic pitch-height correspondence to integrate multisensory information before rule extraction. This result confirms that preverbal infants are ready to use non-social non-communicative information in serving cognitive functions such as rule extraction in a multisensory context.
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Percepción de la Altura Tonal , Humanos , Lactante , Masculino , Femenino , Percepción de la Altura Tonal/fisiología , Percepción Visual/fisiología , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Desarrollo Infantil/fisiología , Comunicación , Estimulación Luminosa , Estimulación AcústicaRESUMEN
Statistical learning is a powerful mechanism that enables the rapid extraction of regularities from sensory inputs. Although numerous studies have established that statistical learning serves a wide range of cognitive functions, it remains unknown whether statistical learning impacts conscious access. To address this question, we applied multiple paradigms in a series of experiments (N = 153 adults): Two reaction-time-based breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS) experiments showed that probable objects break through suppression faster than improbable objects. A preregistered accuracy-based b-CFS experiment showed higher localization accuracy for suppressed probable (versus improbable) objects under identical presentation durations, thereby excluding the possibility of processing differences emerging after conscious access (e.g., criterion shifts). Consistent with these findings, a supplemental visual-masking experiment reaffirmed higher localization sensitivity to probable objects over improbable objects. Together, these findings demonstrate that statistical learning alters the competition for scarce conscious resources, thereby potentially contributing to established effects of statistical learning on higher-level cognitive processes that require consciousness.
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Concienciación , Tiempo de Reacción , Humanos , Concienciación/fisiología , Adulto , Masculino , Femenino , Adulto Joven , Tiempo de Reacción/fisiología , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Estado de Conciencia/fisiología , Percepción Visual/fisiología , AdolescenteRESUMEN
To enhance and sustain movement accuracy, humans make corrections in subsequent trials based on previous errors. Trial-by-trial learning occurs unconsciously and has mostly been studied using reaching movements. Goal-directed projection movements, such as archery, have an inherent delay between releasing an object and observing an outcome (e.g. the arrival position of the object), and this delay may prevent trial-by-trial implicit learning. We aimed to investigate the learning in the projection movement and the impacts of the inherent delay. During the experiment, a joystick was flicked once to transport a cursor from the starting location to a target. To manipulate the length of the delay between the cursor release and outcome observation, the speed of the cursor movement was varied: a fast speed can lead to a short delay. We found trial-by-trial implicit learning under all speed conditions, and the error sensitivity was not significantly different across speed conditions. Furthermore, the error sensitivity depended on the target location, that is, the movement direction. The results indicate that trial-by-trial implicit learning occurred in goal-directed projection movement, despite the length of the inherent delay. Additionally, the degree of this learning was affected by the movement direction.
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Aprendizaje , Movimiento , Desempeño Psicomotor , Humanos , Aprendizaje/fisiología , Movimiento/fisiología , Masculino , Desempeño Psicomotor/fisiología , Femenino , Adulto , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Problem-solving and learning in mathematics involves sensory perception and processing. Multisensory integration may contribute by enhancing sensory estimates. This study aims to assess if combining visual and somatosensory information improves elementary students' perimeter and area estimates. METHODS: 87 4th graders compared rectangles with respect to area or perimeter either solely using visual observation or additionally with somatosensory information. Three experiments targeted different task aspects. Statistical analyses tested success rates and response times. RESULTS: Contrary to expectations, adding somatosensory information did not boost success rates for area and perimeter comparison. Response time even increased with adding somatosensory information. Children's difficulty in accurately tracing figures negatively impacted the success rate of area comparisons. DISCUSSION: Results suggest visual observation alone suffices for accurately estimating and comparing area and perimeter of rectangles in 4th graders. IMPLICATIONS: Careful deliberation on the inclusion of somatosensory information in mathematical tasks concerning perimeter and area estimations of rectangles is recommended.