Learning to find a shape

We studied the transition of stimuli from novel to familiar in Visual searc h and in the guidance of attention to a particular object. Ability to ident ify an object improved dramatically over several days of training. The lear ning was specific for the object's position in the visual field, orientatio n and configuration. Improvement was initially localized to one or two posi tions near the fixation spot and then expanded radially to include the full area of the stimulus array. Characteristics of this learning process may r eflect a shift in the cortical representation of complex features toward ea rlier stages in the visual pathway.