PSYC 325 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Perceptual Learning, Weather Forecasting, Electrodermal Activity
27 Nov 2020
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Brain substrates: review from chapter 3 (perceptual learning) Perceptual learning (learning to better process a stimulus) involves complex changes in brain function: Changes in overall cortical representations (alterations in cortical maps) Similar cortical re-organization occurs during generalization and discrimination behaviors. Initial cortical processing of sensory information occurs in areas dedicated to each sense. Each area exhibits an anatomical mapping of the sense (e. g. , homunculus for touch). This topography occurs via adjacent cells with overlapping receptive fields. Neuron receptive fields are tuned broadly - responses are graded. Shape of the response curve is similar to that of the generalization gradients observed in behavior. Consistent with this, destruction of primary auditory: discrimination training only alters receptive fields if the input is meaningful. No altered fields with mere exposure cortex eliminates ability to discriminate between tones. representations of sensory inputs. As experience shapes receptive fields, the topography of the cortex is also reshaped:
