The effect of learned inattention in category learning: nature, origin, and significance for categorization

Context and Relevance. This review examines the effect of learned inattention (the difficulty in attending to information that was previously irrelevant) using the example of categorical learning. The purpose of this theoretical review: to formulate the main stages of studying this effect, identify key works, and describe the explanatory factors influencing this effect (the task factor and semantic load factor). Results. Evidence is presented that the effect is currently considered in different theoretical approaches: as an effect of category learning proper (mainly to perceptual categories), as a manifestation of a more general group of so-called «learning traps», and as a regularity of learning development in ontogenesis. Within the framework of the latter approach, the effect of learned inattention has been of most interest in the last few years in connection with the development of category learning in children in early childhood and preschool age: the development of the necessary cognitive functions and the use of special learning strategies that are most effective at this age. Conclusions. The discussion formulates the main problems in the study of this effect, related to the types of category rules and the possibility of experimental control of selective attention, and also formulates the most promising directions for further research on this effect.

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