| |
Abstract:
This experiment was designed to investigate how implicit
sequence learning varies when participants have different beliefs
about the presence and nature of the pattern embedded in an
alternating serial reaction time task. Participants performed two
sessions, the first of which was under one of four conditions. One
group was not informed of the presence of the pattern. The other
three groups were given different levels of information about the
pattern. One was told only the basic structure of the pattern and
was asked to try to identify it more specifically. The other two
groups were asked to memorize an exact pattern and to search for it
during the task. While this pattern was accurate for half of the
subjects, it was inaccurate for the others. During the second
session, all subjects were told that the stimuli would be random.
All four groups showed significant learning on implicit measures.
Only one subject successfully located his pattern explicitly during
testing, however. For the remaining subjects, we found that all
four groups showed the same amount of learning. This suggests that
beliefs about the nature of the pattern, even false ones, do not
affect implicit learning.
|
