This is perceptual learning we are talking about, at the very lowest level - in this case just recognizing the orientation of a bar. And that's all the results apply to - not 'Matrix-like learning'.
And it's not passive, either. Subjects were asked to "somehow regulate activity in the posterior part of the brain to make the solid green disc that was presented 6 s later as large as possible (the maximum possible size corresponds to the outer green circle)."
That's effortful, although yes, they may not realize what effect this has on patterns of activity in their brain (patterns identified by fmri that the experimenters are trying to get the subjects to reinforce).
This is perceptual learning we are talking about, at the very lowest level - in this case just recognizing the orientation of a bar. And that's all the results apply to - not 'Matrix-like learning'.
And it's not passive, either. Subjects were asked to "somehow regulate activity in the posterior part of the brain to make the solid green disc that was presented 6 s later as large as possible (the maximum possible size corresponds to the outer green circle)."
That's effortful, although yes, they may not realize what effect this has on patterns of activity in their brain (patterns identified by fmri that the experimenters are trying to get the subjects to reinforce).