Fig 1.
The texture discrimination task (TDT) stimulus.
An adapted version of the standard TDT used frequently in VPL experimentation. The first target is highlighted in blue where subjects report either the presence of an L or T, which is designed to hold fixation. This is referred to as the fixation task. The second target (peripheral orientation task) is highlighted in orange and requires the subject to respond with an H or V depending if the targets orientation was horizontal or vertical. The peripheral orientation task is the primary measure of performance in the experiment. Note that the blue and orange circles are provided just for illustrative purposes. They did not appear in the actual experiment. The shorter the SOA, the more difficult the task becomes.
Fig 2.
TDT background line orientation changes.
An example of using TDT to create the interference in learning Subjects were trained on one background (either horizontal or vertical) and then trained on the opposite background with no resting period in between. Previous research suggests that the immediate switch in background stimulus disrupts learning of one or both backgrounds [17].
Fig 3.
The threshold SOA for both frequent gamers and non-gamers (A).
The first background trained is highlighted in blue, whereas the second background trained is highlighted in red. The threshold percent improvement across day 1 and day 2 for both frequent gamers and non-gamers (B). The first trained background is colored in blue whereas the second trained background is colored in red. The frequent gamers and non-gamers differed on background 1 performance change, while not much difference is seen in background 2. Results are shown in standard error.
Fig 4.
The percent correct for each SOA for both frequent gamers and non-gamers.
The blue and light-blue lines represent background 1 whereas the red and light-red lines represent background 2. Darker lines are day 1 and lighter lines are day 2. “d1b1” for example, corresponds to day 1 background 1, and “d1b2” corresponds to day 1 background 2, and so forth. Results are shown in standard error.