On perceptual expertise

Expertise is a cognitive achievement that clearly involves experience and learning, and often requires explicit, time-consuming training specific to the relevant domain. It is also intuitive that this kind of achievement is, in a rich sense, genuinely perceptual. Many experts—be they radiologists, bird watchers, or fingerprint examiners—are better perceivers in the domain(s) of their expertise. The goal of this paper is to motivate three related claims, by substantial appeal to recent empirical research on perceptual expertise: Perceptual expertise is genuinely perceptual and genuinely cognitive, and this phenomenon reveals how we can become epistemically better perceivers. These claims are defended against sceptical opponents that deny significant top-down or cognitive effects on perception, and opponents who maintain that any such effects on perception are epistemically pernicious

Unfamiliar and newly learned face identification: An examination of individual differences

Face identification involves two tasks: Recognizing an individual even when their appearance changes, and discriminating them from similar-looking individuals. People vary in the accuracy with which they identify unfamiliar faces. Much of the work investigating individual differences in face identification used tightly controlled stimuli (i.e., focused on discrimination). Few studies have used stimuli that incorporate variability in appearance (e.g., focused on recognition). Despite interest in individual differences, and understanding that recognizing a face across instances poses a difficult challenge, many gaps in the literature remain. These include potential predictors, the reliability and convergent validity of face identification tasks, and whether unfamiliar face identification predicts face learning efficiency. I examined a potential predictor of face identification—photography experience (Chapter 2). I recruited photography Experts, Hobbyists and Novices to take part in an unfamiliar face identification task. Photography experience was not a significant predictor of sensitivity in unfamiliar face identification. However, it was a predictor of response bias. I examined the reliability and convergent validity of face identification tasks (Chapter 3). Participants completed four unfamiliar face identification tasks on two days (study 1), or two versions (simultaneous and sequential) of three unfamiliar face identification tasks (study 2). Sensitivity to identity and bias were stable across time and tasks. Response times were fastest on trials that were congruent vs. incongruent with one’s bias, providing preliminary evidence that this reflects decision-making processes. I examined whether unfamiliar face matching predicts face learning efficiency (Chapter 4). Participants completed two unfamiliar face matching tasks and a novel face learning task (which tested recognition four times during learning). Individual differences in the slope of face learning were predicted by unfamiliar face matching ability. These differences appear to be driven by individual differences in recollection, not familiarity. My dissertation provides insights about individual differences in face identification. Individual differences in sensitivity in unfamiliar face identification were stable across time and tasks. They also predict face learning efficiency. My results suggest that face identification is not just a perceptual problem—it is influenced by decision making and other processes. These results have implications for face identification theories and applied settings

Hippocampal sclerosis affects fMR-adaptation of lyrics and melodies in songs

Songs constitute a natural combination of lyrics and melodies, but it is unclear whether and how these two song components are integrated during the emergence of a memory trace. Network theories of memory suggest a prominent role of the hippocampus, together with unimodal sensory areas, in the build-up of conjunctive representations. The present study tested the modulatory influence of the hippocampus on neural adaptation to songs in lateral temporal areas. Patients with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis and healthy matched controls were presented with blocks of short songs in which lyrics and/or melodies were varied or repeated in a crossed factorial design. Neural adaptation effects were taken as correlates of incidental emergent memory traces. We hypothesized that hippocampal lesions, particularly in the left hemisphere, would weaken adaptation effects, especially the integration of lyrics and melodies. Results revealed that lateral temporal lobe regions showed weaker adaptation to repeated lyrics as well as a reduced interaction of the adaptation effects for lyrics and melodies in patients with left hippocampal sclerosis. This suggests a deficient build-up of a sensory memory trace for lyrics and a reduced integration of lyrics with melodies, compared to healthy controls. Patients with right hippocampal sclerosis showed a similar profile of results although the effects did not reach significance in this population. We highlight the finding that the integrated representation of lyrics and melodies typically shown in healthy participants is likely tied to the integrity of the left medial temporal lobe. This novel finding provides the first neuroimaging evidence for the role of the hippocampus during repetitive exposure to lyrics and melodies and their integration into a song

Distinct patterns of functional and effective connectivity between perirhinal cortex and other cortical regions in recognition memory and perceptual discrimination.

Traditionally, the medial temporal lobe (MTL) is thought to be dedicated to declarative memory. Recent evidence challenges this view, suggesting that perirhinal cortex (PrC), which interfaces the MTL with the ventral visual pathway, supports highly integrated object representations in recognition memory and perceptual discrimination. Even with comparable representational demands, perceptual and memory tasks differ in numerous task demands and the subjective experience they evoke. Here, we tested whether such differences are reflected in distinct patterns of connectivity between PrC and other cortical regions, including differential involvement of prefrontal control processes. We examined functional magnetic resonance imaging data for closely matched perceptual and recognition memory tasks for faces that engaged right PrC equivalently. Multivariate seed analyses revealed distinct patterns of interactions: Right ventrolateral prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices exhibited stronger functional connectivity with PrC in recognition memory; fusiform regions were part of the pattern that displayed stronger functional connectivity with PrC in perceptual discrimination. Structural equation modeling revealed distinct patterns of effective connectivity that allowed us to constrain interpretation of these findings. Overall, they demonstrate that, even when MTL structures show similar involvement in recognition memory and perceptual discrimination, differential neural mechanisms are reflected in the interplay between the MTL and other cortical regions