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The problem of reversals in assessing implicit sequence learning with serial reaction time tasks

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An Erratum to this article was published on 19 July 2006

Abstract

We report two experiments in which implicit learning is demonstrated within a short session of practice, in the absence of explicit knowledge of what is learned. In Experiment 1, we replicate the experiments by Curran (Psychol Res 60:24–41, 1997a; J Cogn Neurosci 9(4):522–533, 1997b) and highlight the importance of avoiding a random sequence as comparison to the training sequence, due to the higher proportion of reversal trials included in the random one, which leads to an artifactual measure of learning. In Experiment 2 we present a procedure in which two structurally analogous sequences are used both as training and control sequences, thus controlling for any factor different from learning. The results show that implicit learning is obtained within a short session of practice, and in the absence of any explicit knowledge as assessed through a subsequent generation task. We surmise that this procedure might be especially useful in areas in which short procedures are needed, such as when special populations are tested (e.g., patients, children or elderly people) or when the neural bases of implicit learning are being investigated through neurophysiological measures.

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Notes

  1. In order to be able to compare these data with those obtained by Curran (1997a; Experiment 1, 1997b), we also conducted these analyses on the means of median RT scores computed for each participant and each block for either sequential or random trials. The pattern of results was very similar to that obtained with means, with the exception that the interaction block × type of trial was not significant in the comparison between the first and the last two blocks. As in Curran’s study, it appears that the median scores produced a difference between sequential and random trials from the first training block, and that this difference did not increase with practice.

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Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología with a research grant (BSO 2003–05095) to the second author, and a predoctoral grant to the first author (FPU-AP99). The first author was also awarded with a post-doctoral grant (“ayuda-puente”) by the University of Granada. The authors wish to thank Darlene Howard and three anonymous reviewers for their comments on previous versions of the article.

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  1. Departamento de Psicología Experimental y Fisiología del Comportamiento, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Granada, Campus Universitario Cartuja s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Joaquín M. M. Vaquero & Juan Lupiáñez

  2. Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Joaquín M. M. Vaquero & Luis Jiménez

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  1. Joaquín M. M. Vaquero
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Correspondence to Joaquín M. M. Vaquero.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0599-z

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Vaquero, J.M.M., Jiménez, L. & Lupiáñez, J. The problem of reversals in assessing implicit sequence learning with serial reaction time tasks. Exp Brain Res 175, 97–109 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0523-6

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