September 2021
Volume 21, Issue 9
Open Access
Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting Abstract  |   September 2021
Repetition number, but not spacing, affects spatial context learning
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Caitlin Sisk
    University of Minnesota
  • Vanessa Lee
    University of Minnesota
  • Footnotes
    Acknowledgements  The first author was funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship Program; the American Psychological Association Early Graduate Student Researcher Award Grant funded additional research costs
Journal of Vision September 2021, Vol.21, 2855. doi:https://doi.org/10.1167/jov.21.9.2855
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      Caitlin Sisk, Vanessa Lee; Repetition number, but not spacing, affects spatial context learning. Journal of Vision 2021;21(9):2855. https://doi.org/10.1167/jov.21.9.2855.

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Abstract

One can more quickly find a visual search target when it appears in a previously-encountered context than when it appears in a novel context. Previous studies suggest that this Contextual Cueing effect represents a form of associative learning of the relationship between repeated contexts and the target’s location. However, it is unclear what kind of training schedule is optimal for acquisition and maintenance of Contextual Cueing. Specifically, researchers have yet to determine whether the number of repetitions and the relative spacing of repetitions influence the magnitude and persistence of the reaction time advantage for repeated contexts, relative to novel contexts. To explore this, we compared three training schedules in a within-subjects design. Participants searched for a letter T among Ls and indicated the T’s orientation using arrow keys. Thirty-six displays repeated throughout the 24 training blocks, with 12 displays appearing once in each training block (standard schedule; 24 repetitions total); 12 appearing once in each of the first seven blocks and once in the last training block (massed schedule; eight repetitions total); and 12 appearing in blocks 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 16, 20, and 24 (spaced schedule; eight repetitions total). In a subsequent testing phase, all displays appeared once in each of the four testing blocks, along with 36 novel displays. The only training schedule that yielded a reliably larger Contextual Cueing effect than others was the standard schedule with the most repetitions. This pattern of results (Experiment 1, N = 32) persisted when participants were told in advance that displays would repeat (Experiment 2, N = 31). It also held when participants were tested 24 hours after training (Experiment 3, N = 32). Thus, the number of repetitions, but not the spacing of the repetitions, modulates the associative learning that occurs in Contextual Cueing.

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