Computational approaches to the development of perceptual expertise

Generality and specificity in the effects of musical expertise on perception and cognition

“…Evidence suggests that musicians outperform non-musicians on auditory but not visual sustained attention measures (Strait et al, 2010); however, one recent study also showed a musician advantage on visual sustained attention metrics (Rodrigues et al, 2013). These results conform to research with other highly skilled populations such as chess players, birders, and memory experts, showing that experts differ from non-experts in both their GENERALITY AND SPECIFICITY IN MUSICAL EXPERTISE EFFECTS 10 attention to key stimulus features, and their ability to sustain such attention over extended periods (see Palmeri et al, 2004;Green & Bavelier, 2012). Such potential differences in attentional abilities are not only interesting in their own right, but are particularly important in understanding what might drive musicians' advantages in lower-level auditory perception (see Kraus, 2011b, andZhang et al, 2012, for discussion).…”

“…Perceptual and cognitive skills can be shaped and enhanced through our experience with the world (e.g., Goldstone, 1999;Palmeri & Gauthier, 2004). Pursuit of expertise in a given domain is a particularly striking example: groups as diverse as chess masters, physicians, athletes and musicians spend thousands of hours training and practicing, honing perceptual, cognitive and motor skills critical to success in their field (see Ericsson, 2006;Palmeri et al, 2004; Chi, 2006, for review).…”

“…Pursuit of expertise in a given domain is a particularly striking example: groups as diverse as chess masters, physicians, athletes and musicians spend thousands of hours training and practicing, honing perceptual, cognitive and motor skills critical to success in their field (see Ericsson, 2006;Palmeri et al, 2004; Chi, 2006, for review). Are expert-level perceptual and cognitive skills specific to the trained context?…”

“…The acquisition of expertise may rely in part on developing sustained attentional abilities, particularly directed toward training-relevant stimuli or task goals (e.g., Tervaniemi et al, 2005; see Palmeri et al, 2004, for discussion). We found limited evidence that our musicians differed from non-musicians in this regard, with pianists -but not violinists -marginally less variable in their response times compared to non-musicians.…”

Does Cognitive Science Need Kernels?

“…Exemplar models are not only discussed as models for categorization but also as models for perceptual expertise, object recognition, or automaticity (Palmeri, Wong, & Gauthier, 2004;. As classic psychological models, exemplar models are specified on the algorithmic level.…”