The cognitive and neural plasticity of perceptual expertise

一眨眼的功夫，专业的观鸟人就能分辨出“白冠麻雀”和“林肯麻雀”。同样，专家植物学家也能分辨出“Russula”蘑菇和“Latarius”蘑菇之间的细微差别。是什么因素促成了这种感性专长的发展？毫无疑问，专家对其专业领域的对象比新手有更多的经验。然而，目前还不清楚影响专家表现的是经验的多少还是经验的种类。在这项研究中，我们将训练受试者在一般分类水平或特定分类水平上识别物体和人脸。在我们的实验中，受试者将接受相同数量的暴露于物体和面部刺激的训练。预测是，对于分类更详细的物体和人脸，受试者将表现出专家式的感知能力，这一技能将转移到对相关类别的新刺激的识别上。然而，对于被归类为一般级别的对象，受试者将显示出很少的专家能力，很少或没有迁移到新的类别。因此，这是一种类别经验，而不仅仅是数量决定了专业知识。这一预测将使用电生理学方法进行测试，在受试者接受训练成为专家识别器的同时，我们将测量头皮上的大脑活动。我们还将监测眼球运动，以评估由于训练需求而导致的知觉策略的变化。这些实验的目的是了解一个人从知觉新手发展到知觉专家时，认知和神经生理过程中发生的变化。

In a blink of an eye, an expert birdwatcher can discriminate a "white crown sparrow" from a "Lincoln sparrow." Likewise, the expert botanist can discern the subtle details between a "Russula" mushroom and a "Latarius" mushroom. What are the factors that contribute to the development of this kind of perceptual expertise? Undoubtedly, experts have more experience to objects in their domain of expertise than novices. However, it is not clear whether it is the amount of experience or the kind of experience that shapes expert performance. In this study, we will train subjects to recognize objects and faces at either a general level or a specific level of categorization. In our experiments, subjects will receive the same amount of training exposure to the object and face stimuli. The prediction is that for objects and faces that are categorized at a more detailed level, subjects will show expert-like perceptual abilities and this skill will transfer to the recognition of new stimuli from related categories. However, for objects that are categorized at a general level, subjects will show very little expert abilities and little or no transfer to new categories. Thus, it is the kind of category experience, not just the amount that determines expertise. This prediction will be tested using electrophysiological methods in which we will measure brain activity at the scalp while subjects are trained to become expert recognizers. We will also monitor eye movements to evaluate changes in perceptual strategies due to the demands of training. The goal of these experiments is to understand the changes that occur in cognitive and neurophysiological processes as one develops from a perceptual novice to a perceptual expert.