title: Serial reaction time learning in preschool- and school-age children.
abstract: Visuomotor sequence learning was assessed in 4- to 10-year-old children using a serial reaction time (SRT) task with both random and sequenced trials. One-half of the children received exposure to the sequence prior to performing the reaction time (RT) task. In Experiment 1, 7- and 10-year-old children demonstrated sequence-specific decreases in RT. As in the adult SRT literature, participants with explicit awareness of the sequence at the end of the session showed larger sequence-specific reaction time decrements than those without explicit awareness. Contrary to expectation, preexposure to the sequence did not reliably predict the level of awareness attained. Results from Experiment 2 indicate that 4-year-olds also demonstrate significant sequence learning on a variant of the SRT task. This article provides preliminary data regarding developmental changes in sequential learning and the development and use of implicit and explicit knowledge. Age-related differences emerged primarily in explicit rather than implicit knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, USA. kmt2001@med.cornell.edu
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D012691:Serial Learning