How do enrichment theories explain perceptual learning?

Enrichment theories explain perceptual learning by proposing that sensory experience is enhanced through the addition of specific associations and interpretive rules derived from past experience. According to this perspective, perceptual modification occurs because individuals learn to respond differently to the same sensory stimuli.1

Key aspects of the enrichment thesis include:

• Reducing Ambiguity: Proponents, such as Adelbert Ames, Jr. and Egon Brunswik, argued that sensory stimuli alone often lack sufficient information for mature, adaptive perception. Enrichment is therefore necessary to provide a context for evaluating sensory data and to resolve ambiguity.2
• Learned Assumptions: Enrichment theories suggest that exposure to regularities in the environment leads people to form specific assumptions and inferences. For example, individuals learn to associate certain retinal image changes with object movement or distance, allowing them to perceive objects as stable despite alterations in sensory input.2
• Comparison to Discovery: While discovery theories (such as those of Eleanor J. Gibson) view learning as the process of discovering how to extract effective information from stimulation, enrichment theories emphasize the role of internal, experience-based rules in interpreting that information.1