title: Implicit visual learning: how the task set modulates learning by determining the stimulus-response binding.
abstract: Implicit learning is one of the most fundamental learning mechanisms that enables humans to adapt to regularities inherent in the environment. Despite its high flexibility, it depends on constraints, such as selective attention. Here, we focused on the stimulus-to-response binding which defines the dimensions of the stimuli and the responses participants attend to. In a serial reaction time task with a visual sequence, we investigated whether this stimulus-response binding influences the amount of sequence learning. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 showed that visual sequence learning is reduced when participants do not attend to the relevant response dimension. Furthermore, the findings of Experiment 3 suggest that attention to the relevant response dimension increased the development of explicit knowledge without affecting implicit knowledge. This latter finding is difficult to reconcile with the assumption that explicit learning results from the gradual strengthening of sequence representations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: hilde.haider@uni-koeln.de.
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haider
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eberhardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Esser
authors.affiliation: Department for Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Hamburg Eppendorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rose
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Explicit knowledge acquisition; Implicit learning; Perceptual learning; Response–effect learning; Selective attention; Serial reaction time task; Stimulus–response binding