title: Implicit learning of semantic category sequences: response-independent acquisition of abstract sequential regularities.
abstract: Through the use of a new serial naming task, the authors investigated implicit learning of repeating sequences of abstract semantic categories. Participants named objects (e.g., table, shirt) appearing in random order. Unbeknownst to them, the semantic categories of the objects (e.g., furniture, clothing) followed a repeating sequence. Irrespective of whether participants were instructed to attend to the categories (Experiment 1) or whether no mention was made of the categories (Experiments 2 and 3), naming latencies reliably increased when the repeating category sequence was switched to a random sequence. This was the case even for participants showing no explicit knowledge in reproduction and recognition tests. Results indicate that abstract sequential structures are learned implicitly, even if neither the surface stimuli nor the responses follow a sequence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany. goschke@psychologie.tu-dresden.de
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goschke
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bolte
mesh_terms: D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D001364:Awareness; D003463:Cues; D006801:Humans; D007721:Knowledge of Results, Psychological; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics; D012691:Serial Learning; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014706:Verbal Learning