title: Implicit visual learning and the expression of learning.
abstract: Although the existence of implicit motor learning is now widely accepted, the findings concerning perceptual implicit learning are ambiguous. Some researchers have observed perceptual learning whereas other authors have not. The review of the literature provides different reasons to explain this ambiguous picture, such as differences in the underlying learning processes, selective attention, or differences in the difficulty to express this knowledge. In three experiments, we investigated implicit visual learning within the original serial reaction time task. We used different response devices (keyboard vs. mouse) in order to manipulate selective attention towards response dimensions. Results showed that visual and motor sequence learning differed in terms of RT-benefits, but not in terms of the amount of knowledge assessed after training. Furthermore, visual sequence learning was modulated by selective attention. However, the findings of all three experiments suggest that selective attention did not alter implicit but rather explicit learning processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany. hilde.haider@uni-koeln.de
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haider
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eberhardt
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kunde
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rose
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D012691:Serial Learning; D055815:Young Adult