Sequential effects and sequence learning in a three-choice serial reaction time task.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Behavioral Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Sequential effects, where past events influence behavior without contingency, are common in cognitive psychology.
• Previous research primarily used two-choice reaction time tasks, limiting the study of complex sequences.
• The current study investigates sequential effects in a more complex three-choice reaction time task.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore sequential effects in a three-choice reaction time task focusing on directional transitions.
• To determine if participants exhibit faster responses to consistent directional sequences compared to alternating ones.
• To investigate sequence learning and its interaction with sequential effects in probabilistic environments.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted using a three-choice reaction time task where targets moved clockwise or anticlockwise.
• Experiment 2 introduced a probabilistic bias (75% in one direction) to assess sequence learning.
• Simulations were performed using the Augmented Serial Recurrent Network (ASRN) connectionist model.

Main Results:

• A consistent pattern of sequential effects was observed: participants were faster when target direction remained consistent across trials.
• This pattern persisted even when the direction alternated.
• Experiment 2 showed participants learned the probabilistic sequence but retained the same sequential effects for both prevalent and less prevalent directions.

Conclusions:

• Sequential effects may reflect the learning of transient contingencies.
• Associative learning mechanisms, similar to those used in sequence learning, can explain these effects.
• The findings extend the understanding of sequential effects beyond simple response repetitions/alternations.