Shedding Light on COVIS: Evidence from Optical Neuroimaging for Dissociable Category Learning Systems
Abstract
The COVIS theory of category learning posits separate roles for two different category learning systems. An explicit system mediated by prefrontal regions is involved in learning rule-described categories and an implicit system mediated by the tail of the caudate nucleus is involved in learning non rule-described categories. We conducted two behavioural experiments to validate a carefully controlled categorization task intended to dissociate these explicit and implicit systems. Then we applied fNIRS neuroimaging within-subjects to localize a neuroanatomical dissociation. We localized two effects to R DLPFC (1) a simple single-dissociation of higher activity in RB categorization, and (2) a negative relationship between overall task performance and the magnitude of neural activation. We conclude that explicit and implicit cortical activity are dissociable by neuroimaging, and that fNIRS is a feasible modality to study human categorization.
Related
- Dissociable norepinephrine and dopamine representations during strategic decision-making and reward learning
- A systematic investigation reveals dissociable effects of ageing on implicit and explicit components of sensorimotor learning
- Concurrent metacognitive evaluation is dissociable from perceptual evidence accumulation in the parietal cortex
- Widely Used Calculations of Intracranial Volume Provide Inaccurate Estimates in Developmental Cohorts: Evidence and Solutions for the Neuroimaging Community
- Interpretable Machine Learning Links Group-Specific Plasma Proteomics to Regional Structural Neuroimaging in Alzheimer's Disease
BibTeX
@misc{qiu2026shedding,
title = {{Shedding Light on COVIS: Evidence from Optical Neuroimaging for Dissociable Category Learning Systems}},
author = {Tianhong (Tim) Qiu and Isaac Withers and John Paul Minda},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/4dvn3_v2},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/4dvn3_v2/},
note = {CC0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Shedding Light on COVIS: Evidence from Optical Neuroimaging for Dissociable Category Learning Systems
AU - Tianhong (Tim) Qiu
AU - Isaac Withers
AU - John Paul Minda
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/17
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/4dvn3_v2
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/4dvn3_v2/
AB - The COVIS theory of category learning posits separate roles for two different category learning systems. An explicit system mediated by prefrontal regions is involved in learning rule-described categories and an implicit system mediated by the tail of the caudate nucleus is involved in learning non rule-described categories. We conducted two behavioural experiments to validate a carefully controlled categorization task intended to dissociate these explicit and implicit systems. Then we applied fNIRS neuroimaging within-subjects to localize a neuroanatomical dissociation. We localized two effects to R DLPFC (1) a simple single-dissociation of higher activity in RB categorization, and (2) a negative relationship between overall task performance and the magnitude of neural activation. We conclude that explicit and implicit cortical activity are dissociable by neuroimaging, and that fNIRS is a feasible modality to study human categorization.
ER -