Perceptual learning is robust to manipulations of valence and arousal in childhood and adulthood

Despite clear links between affective processes in many areas of cognition and perception, the influence of affective valence and arousal on low-level perceptual learning have remained largely unexplored. Such influences could have the potential to disrupt or enhance learning that would have long-term consequences for young learners. The current study manipulated 8- to 11-year-old children’s and young adults’ mood using video clips (to induce a positive mood) or a psychosocial stressor (to induce a negative mood). Each participant then completed one session of a low-level visual learning task (visual texture paradigm). Using novel computational methods, we did not observe evidence for the modulation of visual perceptual learning by manipulations of emotional arousal or valence in either children or adults. The majority of results supported a model of perceptual learning that is overwhelmingly constrained to the task itself and independent from external factors such as variations in learners’ affect.