Does Perceptual Learning Contribute to Practice Improvements During Speed of Processing Training?

The computerized cognitive training industry claims that training can enhance brain function and cognitive performance. Speed of processing training, based largely on practice on the Useful Field of View (UFOV) task, shows substantial performance gains that have been reported to transfer to improvements in instrumental activities of daily living. Improving efficiency of attentional processes may have a far-reaching impact on cognitive function. However, the observed practice effects may not actually reflect speedier information processing. The UFOV assessment and associated training protocols rely on a visual masking procedure susceptible to perceptual learning that alters the nature of the masking phenomenon. Repeatedly searching for the same target in the context of unvarying masks alters the nature of the available evidence in the target's perceptual trace after mask presentation. Practice-related automaticity in trained visual search can also improve performance without necessarily changing processing speed. We used a UFOV-like task to train performance using consistently mapped (CM) stimuli that should foster greater automaticity and perceptual learning than practice with varied mapped (VM) stimuli. As expected, CM training led to greater performance improvements. Participants were then tested on trials using new stimuli. This change generated a larger performance cost after CM training (d = - 1.31) than VM training (d = - 0.86). CM transfer raised critical SOAs to the level of VM transfer performance. This pattern of results supports the hypothesis that perceptual learning contributes substantially to training improvements in a task like the one used to generate speed of processing training.