Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2004. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-159).

Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis, PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Many studies point to visual memory as one component which discriminates good from poor spellers. This experiment sought to increase students' use of visual memory, and thereby affect spelling scores in the classroom.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-93).

Thesis (M.S. in Education)--Shenandoah University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-108).

Pages ii, iv, vi and viii are blank, therefore omitted. / <p>Faces are often deemed special objects because they are associated with behavioural and physiological characteristics that differ from those of other objects. These characteristics may indicate that faces are processed with separate mechanisms than other objects. On the other hand, these characteristics may be the result of our extensive experience with faces. If so, other objects should exhibit these same characteristics with sufficient exposure. This prediction has begun to be addressed both from studies of real-world experts and from studies that explicitly manipulate experience with non-face objects in the lab.</p><p>Contributing to this larger framework, here we demonstrate that : (1) large inversion effects can be obtained through training alone, therefore large face inversion effects are insufficient evidence of specialized face-processing mechanisms; (2) house-identification training substantially improves behavioural performance but has minimal impact on fMRI activity recorded in areas that preferentially respond to houses or faces, nor in retinotopically-defined early visual areas. (3) house-identification training systematically reduces the amplitude of late ERP components in the range of 200-300 ms, and (4) the relative patterns of ERP responses to faces and houses remain quite stable after houseidentification training, with faces continuing to exhibit larger, earlier Nl responses than houses.</p><p>Together, these results suggest that, although some behavioural characteristics attributed to specialized face processing can be adequately explained through experience alone, training of non-face objects does not readily reduce existing differences in the fMRI and EEG signatures of face and object processing.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

One of the foremost characteristics of the mammalian visual system is the retinotopic mapping observed in the low-level visual processing centres; the spatial pattern of activation in the lateral geniculate nucleus and primary visual cortex corresponds topologically to the pattern of light falling on the retina. Various vision systems have been developed that take advantage of structured input such as retinotopy, however these systems are often not biologically plausible. Using a parsimonious approach for implementing retinotopy, one that is based on the biology of our visual pathway, we run simulations of visual learning using a deep belief network (DBN). Experiments show that we can successfully produce receptive fields and activation maps typical of the LGN and visual cortex respectively. These results may indicate a possible avenue of exploration into discovering the workings of the early visual system (and possibly more) on a neuronal level.

The purpose of the investigation was to determine the effect of variations in relative frequency of concurrent visual feedback (CVF) on the acquisition and retention of a serial skill. Subjects (n=24) were college-aged females with no gymnastics experience. Subjects viewed a demonstration tape of a skilled gymnast performing a series of seven gymnastics dance skills consisting of simple and complex movements. Following this, subjects performed the dance sequence in front of a floor to ceiling mirror for concurrent visual feedback on a certain percentage of acquisition trials. The percentage of trials a subject received CVF depended on the group to which a subject was assigned: 100% relative frequency of CVF, 50% CVF (given on alternating trials), 50% faded CVF, or a control group that received no CVF. All subjects participated in three, 12trial acquisition sessions on different days. A two-trialshort-term no-CVF retention test was administered after each acquisition session with one long-term retention test administered 72 hours after the last acquisition session.The results of this study indicated no significant differences in form rating scores between groups. Thus, variations in the relative frequency of CVF during acquisition did not seem to enhance or detract from acquisition or retention performance. In addition, the ability to reproduce the correct sequence was not dependent upon the variation in the frequency of CVF employed throughout acquisition trials.The presence of a significant session effect in both acquisition and retention form rating indicated that learning did occur regardless of the presence or absence of CVF. / School of Physical Education