The mechanics of implicit learning of contingencies: a commentary on Custers & Aarts' paper.
In their paper: "Learning of Predictive Relations Between Events Depends on Attention, Not on Awareness" Custers & Aarts demonstrate that when one is first exposed to a clear predictive relationship - a consequent predictive relationship will be represented as a unidirectional association ("predictor" to "predicted") in the percievers' minds regardless of their awareness of that relationship. Furthermore, a conscious intention to learn the relationship leads to the formation of a bidirectional (non-predictive) association. While these findings may prove to be a significant step in understanding other forms of implicit learning such as implicit artificial grammar learning and implicit sequence learning and why they are affected by intentional learning; Custers & Aarts' postulation that "top-down" regulation is at work here is debatable as their experimental manipulation can be understood as "bottom-up" activation of implicit learning processes.
Eitam
Baruch
B
Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 406 Schermerhorn Hall, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue MC 5501, New York, NY 10027, USA. baruch.eitam@mail.huji.ac.il
D001288:Attention; D001364:Awareness; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning