Chunking by colors: assessing discrete learning in a continuous serial reaction-time task.

Chunk learning (the process by which a sequence is learned and retrieved from memory in smaller, decomposed units of information) has been postulated as the main learning mechanism underlying sequence learning (Perruchet & Pacton, 2006). However, the evidence for chunk formation has been elusive in the continuous serial reaction-time task, whereas other continuous, statistical processes of learning account well for the results observed in this task. This article proposes a new index to capture segmentation in learning, based on the variance of responding to different parts of a sequence. We assess the validity of this measure by comparing performance in a control group with that of another group in which color codes were used to induce a uniform segmentation. Results showed that evidence of chunking was obtained when the color codes were consistently coupled to responses, but that chunking was not maintained after the colors were removed.

[1]  W B Verwey,et al.  Concatenating familiar movement sequences: the versatile cognitive processor. , 2001, Acta psychologica.

[2]  Axel Cleeremans,et al.  Comparing direct and indirect measures of sequence learning , 1996 .

[3]  Morten H. Christiansen,et al.  Learning to Segment Speech Using Multiple Cues: A Connectionist Model , 1998 .

[4]  Axel Cleeremans,et al.  Mechanisms of Implicit Learning: Connectionist Models of Sequence Processing , 1993 .

[5]  I Koch,et al.  Patterns, chunks, and hierarchies in serial reaction-time tasks , 2000, Psychological research.

[6]  M. A. Stadler,et al.  Role of attention in implicit learning. , 1995 .

[7]  A. Reber.  Implicit learning of artificial grammars , 1967 .

[8]  Annie Vinter,et al.  Learning and development: The implicit knowledge assumption reconsidered. , 1998 .

[9]  W. Verwey.  Effect of Sequence Length on the Execution of Familiar Keying Sequences: Lasting Segmentation and Preparation? , 2003, Journal of motor behavior.

[10]  A. Vinter,et al.  The self-organizing consciousness. , 2002, The Behavioral and brain sciences.

[11]  Dennis Rünger,et al.  How incidental sequence learning creates reportable knowledge: the role of unexpected events. , 2008, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[12]  Michael A. Stadler,et al.  Implicit serial learning: Questions inspired by Hebb (1961) , 1993, Memory & cognition.

[13]  Jeffrey L. Elman,et al.  Finding Structure in Time , 1990, Cogn. Sci..

[14]  Axel Cleeremans,et al.  Implicit sequence learning: The truth is in the details , 1998 .

[15]  Luis Jiménez,et al.  Motor skill learning in the middle-aged: limited development of motor chunks and explicit sequence knowledge , 2011, Psychological research.

[16]  Luis Jiménez,et al.  Segmentation of short keying sequences does not spontaneously transfer to other sequences. , 2009, Human movement science.

[17]  M. Nissen,et al.  Attentional requirements of learning: Evidence from performance measures , 1987, Cognitive Psychology.

[18]  Dianne C. Berry,et al.  Negative priming and sequence learning , 2002 .

[19]  Peder J. Johnson,et al.  Assessing implicit learning with indirect tests: Determining what is learned about sequence structure. , 1994 .

[20]  D. Berry.  How implicit is implicit learning , 1997 .

[21]  Luis Jiménez,et al.  Which Attention Is Needed for Implicit Sequence Learning , 1999 .

[22]  M. Goldsmith,et al.  Statistical Learning by 8-Month-Old Infants , 1996 .

[23]  Michael A. Stadler,et al.  Handbook of implicit learning , 1998 .

[24]  Joachim Hoffmann,et al.  RT patterns and chunks in SRT tasks: a reply to Jiménez (2008) , 2010, Psychological research.

[25]  Willem B. Verwey,et al.  Diminished motor skill development in elderly: indications for limited motor chunk use. , 2010, Acta psychologica.

[26]  M. Rushworth,et al.  Organization of action sequences and the role of the pre-SMA. , 2004, Journal of neurophysiology.

[27]  Amotz Perlman,et al.  Automatic mode of acquisition of spatial sequences in a serial reaction time paradigm , 2009, Psychological research.

[28]  Luis Jiménez,et al.  Taking patterns for chunks: is there any evidence of chunk learning in continuous serial reaction-time tasks? , 2008, Psychological research.

[29]  Pierre Perruchet,et al.  A subjective unit formation account of implicit learning , 1997 .

[30]  Axel Cleeremans,et al.  Can sequence learning be implicit? New evidence with the process dissociation procedure , 2001, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[31]  M. Ziessler,et al.  Learning of event sequences is based on response-effect learning: further evidence from a serial reaction task. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[32]  P. Perruchet,et al.  Implicit learning and statistical learning: one phenomenon, two approaches , 2006, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[33]  Annie Vinter,et al.  The self-organizing consciousness as an alternative model of the mind , 2002 .

[34]  R. Seidler,et al.  Visuospatial working memory capacity predicts the organization of acquired explicit motor sequences. , 2009, Journal of neurophysiology.

[35]  Leonora Wilkinson,et al.  Intentional control and implicit sequence learning. , 2004, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[36]  William B Verwey,et al.  Evidence for Lasting Sequence Segmentation in the Discrete Sequence-Production Task , 2003, Journal of motor behavior.

[37]  E. Newport,et al.  WORD SEGMENTATION : THE ROLE OF DISTRIBUTIONAL CUES , 1996 .

[38]  Willem B. Verwey,et al.  Evidence for a multistage model of practice in a sequential movement task. , 1999 .

[39]  Willem B Verwey,et al.  Processing modes and parallel processors in producing familiar keying sequences , 2003, Psychological research.