Learned Attention II

Abstract

This chapter explores the relationship between sensory substitution devices and the training of attention. Sensory substitution devices, typically used by the blind, deliver information about the environment by converting the information normally received through one sense (e.g., vision) into information for another sense (e.g., audition or touch). When a user integrates a sensory substitution device into her life, the integration process involves perceptual learning. This chapter explores two questions. First, in what ways can sensory substitution illuminate how the training of attention works more generally? Second, how does knowledge of the way attention is trained in perceptual learning help us to better understand sensory substitution? The chapter draws on findings in these areas to answer a philosophical question: Should the post-perceptual learning experience be classified in the substituted modality (e.g., as vision), in the substituting modality (e.g., as auditory or tactile), or in a new sense modality?