A New Method for Studying Statistical Learning in Young Children

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether a new oculomotor serial reaction time (RT) task revealed statistical sequence learning in young children. Method We used eye tracking to measure typically developing children's oculomotor RTs in response to cartoon-like creatures that appeared successively in quadrants of a monitor during 200 trials: an initial patterned phase (120 trials) in which the creature's location reflected 15 repetitions of an 8-element sequence, a pseudorandom phase (40 trials) in which the location was not predictable, and a final patterned phase (40 trials). In an auditory-visual version of the task, spoken nonwords linked to quadrants preceded the creature's appearance. In Study 1, we administered either the visual or the auditory-visual version to 5- and 6-year-old children; in Study 2, we examined the performance of 4-year-olds on the auditory-visual version. Results In both studies, group mean RT z scores were significantly shorter ( p < .05) during patterned than pseudorandom phases, with large effect sizes (Cohen's dz values = 1.17-1.79). Conclusion The new oculomotor serial RT task detected statistical sequence learning in typically developing children.