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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 8, 2025

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

Published on: May 3, 2018

The interplay between unexpected events and behavior in the development of explicit knowledge in implicit sequence

Clarissa Lustig¹, Sarah Esser², Hilde Haider²

¹Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Richard-Strauss-Str. 2, 50931, Cologne, Germany. clarissa.lustig@uni-koeln.de.

Psychological Research

|December 24, 2021

Summary

The reaction time drop (RT-drop) in implicit learning does not precede explicit knowledge. Instead, this performance change likely signals a strategy shift occurring after explicit knowledge is acquired.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive psychology
Neuroscience
Implicit learning research

Background:

Implicit learning studies explore how unconscious knowledge becomes conscious.
Unexpected behavior changes may trigger conscious awareness.
A common finding is the reaction time drop (RT-drop) coinciding with explicit knowledge acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine if the RT-drop precedes or follows the development of explicit knowledge.
To investigate the relationship between RT-drops and explicit knowledge formation.

Main Methods:

A serial reaction time task was employed.
Stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) timing was manipulated (long vs. short).
Participants were divided into blocked-SOA and random-SOA conditions.

Main Results:

More participants in the blocked-SOA condition exhibited an RT-drop compared to the random-SOA condition.
No significant difference in the amount of explicit knowledge was found between conditions.
The RT-drop occurred more frequently when SOA timing was predictable.

Conclusions:

The RT-drop appears to be a consequence, not a precursor, of explicit knowledge.
RT-drops may reflect a shift in behavioral strategy driven by conscious awareness.
Predictable task structures facilitate the expression of RT-drops, but not necessarily explicit knowledge acquisition.