Abstract
Evidence for human learning without awareness of what is learned
has been sought in serial reaction time (SRT) tasks in which,
unknown to participants, the locations of stimuli follow a particular rule or sequence (Willingham, Nissen & Bullemer, 1989). A number of criticisms have been levelled at such tasks, including a lack of adequate control for sequential effects and a discrepancy in sensitivity between measures of implicit and explicit knowledge
about the task (Jones & McLaren, 2009; Shanks & St. John, 1994).
In this study we provide a novel, two-choice SRT paradigm
whereby the locations of the response stimuli are sometimes
predicted by a separate set of stimuli on screen. A color-filled
square appears before each stimulus requiring a response, with
participants informed this is simply a fixation point to prepare for
the next trial. Two out of eight colors are predictive on 80% of
trials, and performance on these consistent trials was faster than on the other six colors that were equally likely to result in either of the two possible responses. All these trial types were faster and more accurate than the remaining inconsistent 20% of trials for the
predictive colors, which also produce more errors than control
colors. A prediction task and interview followed the task, on which
participants performed at near (slightly below) chance levels. We
suggest that this task is a useful tool for studying associative
learning in humans, as it provides reliable effects that appear to
demonstrate implicit learning with relatively brief training.
has been sought in serial reaction time (SRT) tasks in which,
unknown to participants, the locations of stimuli follow a particular rule or sequence (Willingham, Nissen & Bullemer, 1989). A number of criticisms have been levelled at such tasks, including a lack of adequate control for sequential effects and a discrepancy in sensitivity between measures of implicit and explicit knowledge
about the task (Jones & McLaren, 2009; Shanks & St. John, 1994).
In this study we provide a novel, two-choice SRT paradigm
whereby the locations of the response stimuli are sometimes
predicted by a separate set of stimuli on screen. A color-filled
square appears before each stimulus requiring a response, with
participants informed this is simply a fixation point to prepare for
the next trial. Two out of eight colors are predictive on 80% of
trials, and performance on these consistent trials was faster than on the other six colors that were equally likely to result in either of the two possible responses. All these trial types were faster and more accurate than the remaining inconsistent 20% of trials for the
predictive colors, which also produce more errors than control
colors. A prediction task and interview followed the task, on which
participants performed at near (slightly below) chance levels. We
suggest that this task is a useful tool for studying associative
learning in humans, as it provides reliable effects that appear to
demonstrate implicit learning with relatively brief training.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 34th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society |
| Editors | Naomi Miyake, David Peebles, Richard P. Cooper |
| Place of Publication | Austin, Texas |
| Publisher | Cognitive Science Society |
| Pages | 1185-1190 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780976831884 |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | 34th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society - Sapporo, Japan Duration: 1 Aug 2012 → 4 Aug 2012 |
Academic conference
| Academic conference | 34th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Japan |
| City | Sapporo |
| Period | 1/08/12 → 4/08/12 |