Although it has been demonstrated that edge-based information is more important than surface-based information in incidental category learning, it remains unclear how the two types of information play different roles in incidental category learning. To address this issue, the present study combined behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) techniques in an incidental category learning task in which the categories were defined by either edge- or surface-based features. The results from Experiment 1 showed that participants could simultaneously learn both edge- and surface-based information in incidental category learning, and importantly, there was a larger learning effect for the edge-based category than for the surface-based category. The behavioral results from Experiment 2 replicated those from Experiment 1, and the ERP results further revealed that the stimuli from the edge-based category elicited larger anterior and posterior P2 components than those from the surface-based category, whereas the stimuli from the surface-based category elicited larger anterior N1 and P3 components than those from the edge-based category. Taken together, the results suggest that, although surface-based information might attract more attention during feature detection, edge-based information plays more important roles in evaluating the relevance of information in making a decision in categorization.

尽管已证明在偶然类别学习中基于边缘的信息比基于表面的信息更为重要，但仍不清楚这两种信息在偶然类别学习中如何发挥不同的作用。为了解决这个问题，本研究在偶然的类别学习任务中结合了行为和事件相关的潜在（ERP）技术，其中类别是通过基于边缘或基于表面的特征来定义的。实验1的结果表明，参与者可以在附带类别学习中同时学习基于边缘和基于表面的信息，而且重要的是，基于边缘的类别比基于表面的类别具有更大的学习效果。实验2的行为结果复制了实验1的行为结果 ERP的结果进一步表明，边缘类别的刺激比表面类别的刺激产生更大的前后P2分量，而表面类别的刺激比N2和P3的刺激产生更大的前N1和P3分量。基于边缘的类别。两者合计，结果表明，尽管基于表面的信息可能会在特征检测期间引起更多关注，但基于边缘的信息在评估信息的相关性以做出分类决策时起着更为重要的作用。而来自表面类别的刺激比来自边缘类别的刺激产生更大的前N1和P3成分。两者合计，结果表明，尽管基于表面的信息可能会在特征检测期间引起更多关注，但基于边缘的信息在评估信息的相关性以做出分类决策时起着更为重要的作用。而来自表面类别的刺激比来自边缘类别的刺激产生更大的前N1和P3成分。两者合计，结果表明，尽管基于表面的信息可能会在特征检测期间引起更多关注，但基于边缘的信息在评估信息的相关性以做出分类决策时起着更为重要的作用。