fabian ignacio mellado soto - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by fabian ignacio mellado soto

The aim of this study was to explore if a conservative response criterion for facial expression p... more The aim of this study was to explore if a conservative response criterion for facial expression perception during continuous flash suppression (CFS) is responsible for the differences between conscious and non-conscious perception. We hypothesized that the perception of facial expression in the absence of visual awareness under CFS represents non-conscious processing and is not a function of conservative criterion. We predicted that participants’ sensitivity (d') in a detection task would be significantly lower than their sensitivity in a 2-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) task. After rendering images of faces with different facial expression (fearful vs. neutral) invisible for 500 milliseconds (ms; Experiment 1) and 700 ms (Experiment 2) using CFS, participants judged the presence/absence of the faces with a yes/no detection task and the emotion of faces with the 2AFC task. Participants also rated their confidence on their detection and 2AFC responses. Our results indicate that...

Humans learn categorization rules that are aligned with separable dimensions through a rule-based... more Humans learn categorization rules that are aligned with separable dimensions through a rule-based learning system, which makes learning faster and easier to generalize than categorization rules that require integration of information from different dimensions. Recent research suggests that learning to categorize objects along a completely novel dimension changes its perceptual representation, making it more separable and discriminable. Here we asked whether such newly learned dimensions could support rule-based category learning. One group received extensive categorization training and a second group did not receive such training. Later, both groups were trained in a task that made use of the category-relevant dimension, and then tested in an analogical transfer task (Experiment 1) and a button-switch interference task (Experiment 2). We expected that only the group with extensive pre-training (with well-learned dimensional representations) would show evidence of rule-based behavior...

NeuroImage, 2016

Recent work has shown that multimodal association areas-including frontal, temporal and parietal ... more Recent work has shown that multimodal association areas-including frontal, temporal and parietal cortex-are focal points of functional network reconfiguration during human learning and performance of cognitive tasks. On the other hand, neurocomputational theories of category learning suggest that the basal ganglia and related subcortical structures are focal points of functional network reconfiguration during early learning of some categorization tasks, but become less so with the development of automatic categorization performance. Using a combination of network science and multilevel regression, we explore how changes in the connectivity of small brain regions can predict behavioral changes during training in a visual categorization task. We find that initial category learning, as indexed by changes in accuracy, is predicted by increasingly efficient integrative processing in subcortical areas, with higher functional specialization, more efficient integration across modules, but a lower cost in terms of redundancy of information processing. The development of automaticity, as indexed by changes in the speed of correct responses, was predicted by lower clustering (particularly in subcortical areas), higher strength (highest in cortical areas) and higher betweenness centrality. By combining neurocomputational theories and network scientific methods, these results synthesize the dissociative roles of multimodal association areas and subcortical structures in the development of automaticity during category learning.

En el marco de la Red MUNDO, en esta obra titulada EMPRENDIMIENTO E INNOVACIÓN CON RESPONSABILIDA... more En el marco de la Red MUNDO, en esta obra titulada EMPRENDIMIENTO E INNOVACIÓN CON RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL se presentan una serie de construcciones teóricas y prácticas sobre la gestión del emprendimiento y la innovación con responsabilidad social, al considerar los modelos, variables, instrumentos y conceptos para impulsar una cultura de apropiación de las TIC´s en la Universidad, el Estado y la Empresa. La Red MUNDO es una red tema?tica de la Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica conformada por un grupo inter y multidisciplinario de acade?micos(as) de programas, proyectos y actividades que realizan estudios poli?ticos, educativos, econo?micos, administrativos y sociales sobre el emprendimiento y la innovacio?n con un enfoque en la responsabilidad social para el desarrollo humano sostenible. Esta vincula el quehacer acade?mico con experiencias de otras latitudes del Mundo para nutrir la Academia, por que la Academia no se centra solamente en una Unidad Acade?mica ni en una Universidad....

Cognition, Jan 24, 2015

Perceptual separability is a foundational concept in cognitive psychology. A variety of research ... more Perceptual separability is a foundational concept in cognitive psychology. A variety of research questions in perception - particularly those dealing with notions such as "independence," "invariance," "holism," and "configurality" - can be characterized as special cases of the problem of perceptual separability. Furthermore, many cognitive mechanisms are applied differently to perceptually separable dimensions than to non-separable dimensions. Despite the importance of dimensional separability, surprisingly little is known about its origins. Previous research suggests that categorization training can lead to learning of novel dimensions, but it is not known whether the separability of such dimensions also increases with training. Here, we report evidence that training in a categorization task increases perceptual separability of the category-relevant dimension according to a variety of tests from general recognition theory (GRT). In Experiment...

Vision Research, 2012

A model hypothesizing that basic mechanisms of associative learning and generalization underlie o... more A model hypothesizing that basic mechanisms of associative learning and generalization underlie object categorization in vertebrates can account for a large body of animal and human data. Here, we report two experiments which implicate error-driven associative learning in pigeons' recognition of objects across changes in viewpoint. Experiment 1 found that object recognition across changes in viewpoint depends on how well each view predicts reward. Analyses of generalization performance, spatial position of pecks to images, and learning curves all showed behavioral patterns analogous to those found in prior studies of relative validity in associative learning. In Experiment 2, pigeons were trained to recognize objects from multiple viewpoints, which usually promotes robust performance at novel views of the trained objects. However, when the objects possessed a salient, informative metric property for solving the task, the pigeons did not show view-invariant recognition of the training objects, a result analogous to the overshadowing effect in associative learning.

Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, 2012

Psychological Review, 2014

How do we apply learning from one situation to a similar, but not identical, situation? The princ... more How do we apply learning from one situation to a similar, but not identical, situation? The principles governing the extent to which animals and humans generalize what they have learned about certain stimuli to novel compounds containing those stimuli vary depending on a number of factors. Perhaps the best studied among these factors is the type of stimuli used to generate compounds. One prominent hypothesis is that different generalization principles apply depending on whether the stimuli in a compound are similar or dissimilar to each other. However, the results of many experiments cannot be explained by this hypothesis. Here we propose a rational Bayesian theory of compound generalization that uses the notion of consequential regions, first developed in the context of rational theories of multidimensional generalization, to explain the effects of stimulus factors on compound generalization. The model explains a large number of results from the compound generalization literature, including the influence of stimulus modality and spatial contiguity on the summation effect, the lack of influence of stimulus factors on summation with a recovered inhibitor, the effect of spatial position of stimuli on the blocking effect, the asymmetrical generalization decrement in overshadowing and external inhibition, and the conditions leading to a reliable external inhibition effect. By integrating rational theories of compound and dimensional generalization, our model provides the first comprehensive computational account of the effects of stimulus factors on compound generalization, including spatial and temporal contiguity between components, which have posed longstanding problems for rational theories of associative and causal learning.

Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 2014

Behavioral studies of object recognition in pigeons have been conducted for 50 years, yielding a ... more Behavioral studies of object recognition in pigeons have been conducted for 50 years, yielding a large body of data. Recent work has been directed toward synthesizing this evidence and understanding the visual, associative, and cognitive mechanisms that are involved. The outcome is that pigeons are likely to be the non-primate species for which the computational mechanisms of object recognition are best understood. Here, we review this research and suggest that a core set of mechanisms for object recognition might be present in all vertebrates, including pigeons and people, making pigeons an excellent candidate model to study the neural mechanisms of object recognition. Behavioral and computational evidence suggests that error-driven learning participates in object category learning by pigeons and people, and recent neuroscientific research suggests that the basal ganglia, which are homologous in these species, may implement error-driven learning of stimulus-response associations. Furthermore, learning of abstract category representations can be observed in pigeons and other vertebrates. Finally, there is evidence that feedforward visual processing, a central mechanism in models of object recognition in the primate ventral stream, plays a role in object recognition by pigeons. We also highlight differences between pigeons and people in object recognition abilities, and propose candidate adaptive specializations which may explain them, such as holistic face processing and rule-based category learning in primates. From a modern comparative perspective, such specializations are to be expected regardless of the model species under study. The fact that we have a good idea of which aspects of object recognition differ in people and pigeons should be seen as an advantage over other animal models. From this perspective, we suggest that there is much to learn about human object recognition from studying the "simple" brains of pigeons.

Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews, 2010

Acta neurobiologiae experimentalis, 2007

The goal of this study was to define conditions under which conditioned immunosuppression may be ... more The goal of this study was to define conditions under which conditioned immunosuppression may be observed reliably. In three experiments, rats were exposed to a gustatory conditioned stimulus (CS) paired with cyclophosphamide (US), which induces immunosuppression and malaise. In Experiment 1, a single pairing of the CS with low, medium, or high doses of cyclophosphamide in separate groups produced no reliable conditioned immunosuppression even though conditioned taste aversion was observed in groups trained with high and medium doses of CY. Experiment 2 replicated the lack of effect following a single pairing of the CS with the medium dose of cyclophosphamide but demonstrated that three pairings are sufficient to induce conditioned immunosuppression. Experiment 3 demonstrated that significant immunosuppression is observable following a single CS-US pairing if the CS is presented in compound with a previously nonreinforced CS during training, an effect reminiscent of supernormal cond...

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2009

Considerable research has examined the contrasting predictions of the elemental and configural as... more Considerable research has examined the contrasting predictions of the elemental and configural association theories proposed by Rescorla and Wagner (1972) and Pearce (1987), respectively. One simple method to distinguish between these approaches is the summation test, in which the associative strength attributed to a novel compound of two separately trained cues is examined. Under common assumptions, the configural view predicts that the strength of the compound will approximate to the average strength of its components, whereas the elemental approach predicts that the strength of the compound will be greater than the strength of either component. Different studies have produced mixed outcomes. In studies of human causal learning, Collins and Shanks (2006) suggested that the observation of summation is encouraged by training, in which different stimuli are associated with different submaximal outcomes, and by testing, in which the alternative outcomes can be scaled. The reported exp...

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2014

A common question in perceptual science is to what extent different stimulus dimensions are proce... more A common question in perceptual science is to what extent different stimulus dimensions are processed independently. General recognition theory (GRT) offers a formal framework via which different notions of independence can be defined and tested rigorously, while also dissociating perceptual from decisional factors. This article presents a new GRT model that overcomes several shortcomings with previous approaches, including a clearer separation between perceptual and decisional processes and a more complete description of such processes. The model assumes that different individuals share similar perceptual representations, but vary in their attention to dimensions and in the decisional strategies they use. We apply the model to the analysis of interactions between identity and emotional expression during face recognition. The results of previous research aimed at this problem have been disparate. Participants identified four faces, which resulted from the combination of two identities and two expressions. An analysis using the new GRT model showed a complex pattern of dimensional interactions. The perception of emotional expression was not affected by changes in identity, but the perception of identity was affected by changes in emotional expression. There were violations of decisional separability of expression from identity and of identity from expression, with the former being more consistent across participants than the latter. One explanation for the disparate results in the literature is that decisional strategies may have varied across studies and influenced the results of tests of perceptual interactions, as previous studies lacked the ability to dissociate between perceptual and decisional interactions.

Psychological Review, 2010

A wealth of empirical evidence has now accumulated concerning animals' categorizing photographs o... more A wealth of empirical evidence has now accumulated concerning animals' categorizing photographs of real-world objects. Although these complex stimuli have the advantage of fostering rapid category learning, they are difficult to manipulate experimentally and to represent in formal models of behavior. We present a solution to the representation problem in modeling natural categorization by adopting a common-elements approach. A common-elements stimulus representation, in conjunction with an error-driven learning rule, can explain a wide range of experimental outcomes in animals' categorization of naturalistic images. The model also generates novel predictions that can be empirically tested. We report 2 experiments that show how entirely hypothetical representational elements can nevertheless be subject to experimental manipulation. The results represent the first evidence of error-driven learning in natural image categorization, and they support the idea that basic associative processes underlie this important form of animal cognition.

Revista …, 2006

From the beginning of the study of classical conditioning, the formulation of mathematical theori... more From the beginning of the study of classical conditioning, the formulation of mathematical theories has been a major goal of theoreticians. After more than a century of research, the amount of empirical data accumulated is impressive and the theories have ...

NeuroImage, 2013

Previous evidence suggests that relatively separate neural networks underlie initial learning of ... more Previous evidence suggests that relatively separate neural networks underlie initial learning of rule-based and information-integration categorization tasks. With the development of automaticity, categorization behavior in both tasks becomes increasingly similar and exclusively related to activity in cortical regions. The present study uses multi-voxel pattern analysis to directly compare the development of automaticity in different categorization tasks. Each of three groups of participants received extensive training in a different categorization task: either an information-integration task, or one of two rule-based tasks. Four training sessions were performed inside an MRI scanner. Three different analyses were performed on the imaging data from a number of regions of interest (ROIs). The common patterns analysis had the goal of revealing ROIs with similar patterns of activation across tasks. The unique patterns analysis had the goal of revealing ROIs with dissimilar patterns of activation across tasks. The representational similarity analysis aimed at exploring (1) the similarity of category representations across ROIs and (2) how those patterns of similarities compared across tasks. The results showed that common patterns of activation were present in motor areas and basal ganglia early in training, but only in the former later on. Unique patterns were found in a variety of cortical and subcortical areas early in training, but they were dramatically reduced with training. Finally, patterns of representational similarity between brain regions became increasingly similar across tasks with the development of automaticity.