In a single large-scale study, we demonstrate that verbal sequence learning as studied using the classic Hebb repetition effect (Hebb, 1961)--the improvement in the serial recall of a repeating sequence compared to nonrepeated sequences--is resilient to both wide and irregular spacing between sequence repetitions. Learning of a repeated sequence…

Reconstructing memory for sequences is a complex process, likely involving multiple sources of information. In 3 experiments, we examined the source(s) of information that might underlie the ability to accurately place an event within a temporal context. The task was to estimate, after studying each list, the temporal position of a single test…

Remembering the order of a sequence of events is a fundamental feature of episodic memory. Indeed, a number of formal models represent temporal context as part of the memory system, and memory for order has been researched extensively. Yet, the nature of the code(s) underlying sequence memory is still relatively unknown. Across 4 experiments that…

Sequence learning and contextual cueing explore different forms of implicit learning, arising from practice with a structured serial task, or with a search task with informative contexts. We assess whether these two learning effects arise simultaneously when both remain implicit. Experiments 1 and 2 confirm that a cueing effect can be observed…

The expression of expert motor skills typically involves learning to perform a precisely timed sequence of movements. Research examining incidental sequence learning has relied on a perceptually cued task that gives participants exposure to repeating motor sequences but does not require timing of responses for accuracy. In the 1st experiment, a…

The multivariate effect of task sequence, memory support, and state anxiety was investigated using a nonverbal concept acquisition task. Ninety-five Indian college students were randomly assigned to four treatment conditions resulting from the task sequences of 1) easy-to-hard and 2) hard-to-easy and from memory support versus nonmemory support.…

Recent research has shown that when individuals hear an impoverished, atypical, or disorganized story and are asked to recall it, they can and do produce a canonical version of it. To determine if this "strategic" manipulation of story structure undergoes developmental changes, two experiments were conducted using second and sixth grade children…