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Updated: May 7, 2026
The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task
Published on: May 3, 2018
A sequence identification measurement model to investigate the implicit learning of metrical temporal patterns
Benjamin G Schultz1, Catherine J Stevens, Peter E Keller
1MARCS Institute, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ; Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Team Auditory Cognition and Psychoacoustics, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixtes de Recherche 5292, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U1028, Université Lyon, Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France.
Implicit learning (IL) involves unconscious processes. This study found that perceptual fluency may not always be necessary to infer IL in temporal pattern learning, and conscious control can vary.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Learning Sciences
Background:
- Implicit learning (IL) is unconscious and unintentional.
- Perceptual fluency, the ease of processing stimuli after exposure, is often assumed to correlate with IL.
- The specific role of perceptual fluency in implicit temporal pattern learning remained unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between perceptual fluency and implicit learning of auditory temporal patterns.
- To disentangle conscious and unconscious contributions to recognition memory following implicit learning.
- To analyze unreported recognition data using the sequence identification measurement model.
Main Methods:
- Re-analysis of recognition data from two experiments using the sequence identification measurement model.
- Application of the process dissociation procedure in the original experiments to assess implicit learning via motor fluency.
- Comparison of model-derived contributions of conscious and unconscious processes to recognition.
Main Results:
- In Experiment 1, unconscious processes significantly influenced recognition more than conscious processes.
- In Experiment 2, conscious and unconscious processes contributed equally to recognition.
- The generation task confirmed implicit learning in both experiments, despite differing recognition patterns.
Conclusions:
- Perceptual fluency may not be a prerequisite for inferring implicit learning in temporal pattern tasks.
- The degree of conscious control over implicitly learned information might be modulated by perceptual and motor fluency.
- Findings suggest a complex interplay between different fluency measures and conscious awareness in implicit learning.
