Improvement in perceptual judgments as a function of controlled practice or training.

Gibson, Eleanor J.

doi:10.1037/h0055517

Cited by 227 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…As long ago as 1953, Gibson was able to locate 2l I experimental studies concerned with the effects of practice on perceptual judgments, many of which clearly indicated that performance did improve with practice (Gibson, 1953(Gibson, , see also 1969. The more recent evidence on this topic is also generally consistent with the conclusion that practice greatly facilitates perceptual performance.…”

Section: Improvement In Simple Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Skilled performance: Effects of adult age and experience on elementary processes.

Salthouse

Somberg²

1982

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

220

136

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SUMMARYDespite a general neglect in contemporary research of the role of practice on the performance of simple components of skill, considerable evidence indicates that experience leads to substantial improvement in detection, discrimination, ani speeded classification. One goal of the present research was to identify the mechanisms responsible for practice-related improvement in such elementary tasks. A second goal was to determine whether there are adult age differences in the magnitude of practicerelated improvement on simple perceptual and cognitive skills or in the mechanisms used to achieve that improvement.Eight young adults (ages 19 to 27 years) and 8 older adults (ages 62 to 73 years) performed four simple tasks for 5l experimental sessions. On several sessions the subjects received qualitatively or quantitatively different stimuli to determine the mechanisms responsible for improvement. A concurrent reaction-time task was also performed at three different periods to assess the level of residual capacity after various amounts of practice.The results were interpreted as suggesting that improvement is due to shifts in the type of information being processed, in the identity or sequence of processing operations, and in the attention requirements of the task. A model incorporating these mechanisms is proposed and its application to the data is discussed.Age differences persisted on nearly every performance measure throughout all levels of practice. Moreover, there was little evidence that young and old subjects were qualitatively different in the manner in which they performed the tasks. It is suggested that the major difference between young and old adults on simple perceptual and cognitive tasks is the rate of processing nearly all types of information.Skill generally refers to the possession of expertise in some fairly complex, temporally interrelated behavior. For example, a skilled typist or pianist has a well coordinated sequence of manual keystrokes; the development of that coordination is probably the major part of skill acquisition in these domains, because the keystrokes themselves are extremely simple in isolation. However, in other areas of skill it is possible that performance of each individual component changes with increasing expertise. Perhaps substantial improvements do not occur in the quality of a simple keystroke, but other perceptual or motoric aspects of skill might improve independent of the overall coordinated integration of the components.Consider the case of drivine an automobile. Driving involves a complex coordinated sequence of perceptual and motor activities, and the skilled driver almost certainly possesses a more efficient integration and coordination of these activities than the novice driver. The expert is probably better able to turn the steering wheel while applying pressure to the brake or accelerator, to engage the clutch with his or her foot while manually shifting gears, to sound the horn while applying pressure to the brakes, and so on. One could also ask. however, ...

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Section: Improvement In Simple Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Skilled performance: Effects of adult age and experience on elementary processes.

Salthouse

Somberg²

1982

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

220

136

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It was an observation that would be made by many experimenters in subsequent years (Gibson, 1953). Anticipating the signal detection theorists, Wilcox (1936) attributed the change in two-bar acuity he found with practice to a shift in the subject's criterion for "doubleness."…”

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confidence: 99%

Improvement in vernier acuity with practice

McKee

Westhe

1978

Perception & Psychophysics

287

131

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“…One prediction of this hypothesis is that the central representation of a sensory surface would be altered following a period of training of that sensory surface. This change in the central representation of the sensory surface may occur in parallel with the increase in perfonnance commonly observed with training (see Anderson, 1981;Gibson, 1953;James, 1890James, /1950Singley & Anderson, 1989).…”

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confidence: 99%