PERCEPTUAL-LEARNING IN PARAFOVEAL VISION

The present study tests the effects of practice on parafoveal vernier and resolution acuity. By measuring task specificity, transfer of trai ning to other retinal locations in the trained eye and transfer of tra ining to the untrained eye, we directly address whether improvement on these tasks is the result of changes in the underlying physiological processes or simply the development of new cognitive strategies. We fo und that: (1) significant learning can occur for both vernier and reso lution acuity in many (but not all) individuals; (2) there were signif icant individual differences in the degree and time-course of learning : (3) learning transfers to the untrained task; and (4) learning trans fers to the other eye particularly when the visual pathway leads to th e trained hemisphere. These results suggest that both physiological an d cognitive processes contribute to the improvement seen after repetit ive practice on these visual tasks.