Visual perceptual learning is effective in the far but not in the near space

Abstract

Visual shape discrimination is faster for objects close to the body, in the peripersonal space (PPS), compared to objects far from the body. Visual processing enhancement in PPS occurs also when perceived depth is based on 2D pictorial cues. This advantage has been observed from relatively low-level (detection, size, orientation) to high-level visual features (face processing) (Ahsan et al., 2021; Dureux et al., 2021). While multisensory association also displays proximal advantages (Zanini et al., 2021), whether PPS influences visual perceptual learning remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether perceptual learning effects vary according to the distance of visual stimuli (near or far) from the observer, illusorily induced by leveraging the Ponzo illusion. Participants performed a visual search task in which they reported whether a specific target object orientation (e.g., triangle pointing downward) was present among distractors. Performance was assessed before and after practicing the visual search task (30 minutes/day for 5 days) at either the close (near group) or far distance (far group). Results showed that participants that performed the training in the near space did not improve. By contrast, participants that performed the training in the far space showed an improvement in the visual search task in both the far and near spaces. We suggest that such improvement in the far training is due to a greater deployment of attention in the far space, which could make the learning more effective and generalize across spaces.