Implicit learning in children is not related to age: evidence from drawing behavior

Three experiments are reported on implicit learning in 432 children between the ages of 4 and 10 years, using a new paradigm ("the neutral parameter procedure") based on drawing behavior. The first two experiments demonstrated that children modified their drawing behavior following specially devised practice in such a way that these modifications could not be viewed as the result of deliberate adaptive strategies. The third experiment showed that these behavioral modifications lasted for at least 1 hr after the training phase. No age-related differences appeared in the experiments. A comparison of children's data with similar adults' data also failed to reveal any age differences. These results provide compelling evidence that implicit learning processes are age independent. Some implications of these results for developmental issues are discussed, notably the hypothesis of the formation of implicit knowledge in the course of learning.