Concept Learning Builds Behaviourally Relevant Attentional Templates

Abstract

Attention optimizes learning by filtering relevant information to build conceptual knowledge. However, how learned concepts, once encoded in memory, subsequently guide attentional processes remains an intriguing question. We propose that concept learning leads to the emergence of attentional templates that store goal-relevant representations, thereby actively guiding attention allocation. Participants completed two separate learning tasks and a test, wherein each trial began with a cue, indicating which learning task should be employed. Random test trials included a probe instead of concept specific features: a small arrow appeared at a feature location that was relevant (i.e., valid) or irrelevant (i.e., invalid) for the cued task. Successful learners were faster at responding to valid probes than invalid, demonstrating the deployment of concept-specific attentional templates. Importantly, the efficiency of this attention allocation was tied to concept learning success, with higher learning performance yielding greater response time benefits at test. Thus, our results reveal that learning builds behaviourally relevant attentional templates, and subsequently, learned concepts in memory guide attention by deploying these templates, a phenomenon that we introduce as learning-guided attention. This work provides novel insights into the dynamic interplay between learning, memory, and attention. Significance StatementExtensive work shows that attention selects the most relevant information while learning new knowledge. Theoretically, the interaction between learning and attention is bidirectional; learned knowledge, in turn, guides attention to relevant information for that context. However, the mechanism by which knowledge in memory directs attention has remained largely unexplored. By developing an experimental paradigm that bridges the learning and attention literatures, we demonstrate that learning builds "attentional templates" which capture what is relevant in a specific learning context. While utilizing learned knowledge, individuals deploy these templates to allocate their attention to the most relevant information for a given situation. We introduce this phenomenon as learning-guided attention, providing novel insights into the dynamic interplay between learning, memory, and attention.