New information that is compatible with pre-existing knowledge can be learned faster. Such schema memory effect has been reported in declarative memory and in explicit motor sequence learning (MSL). Here, we investigated if sequences of key presses that were compatible to previously trained ones, could be learned faster in an implicit MSL task.…

Being able to notice that a cause-effect relation is getting stronger or weaker is important for adapting to one's environment and deciding how to use the cause in the future. We conducted an experiment in which participants learned about a cause-effect relation that either got stronger or weaker over time. The experiment was conducted with a…

Statistical learning allows us to implicitly create memory traces of recurring sequential patterns appearing in our environment. Here, we study the dynamics of how these sequential memory traces develop in a species of nonhuman primates (i.e., Guinea baboons, "Papio papio") that, unlike humans, cannot use language and verbal recoding…

Complex sequences are ubiquitous in human mental life, structuring representations within many different cognitive domains--natural language, music, mathematics, and logic, to name a few. However, the representational and computational machinery used to learn abstract grammars and process complex sequences is unknown. Here, we used an artificial…

Some theories have proposed that autistic individuals have difficulty learning predictive relationships. We tested this hypothesis using a serial reaction time task in which participants learned to predict the locations of a repeating sequence of target locations. We conducted a large-sample online study with 61 autistic and 71 neurotypical…

The procedural deficit hypothesis claims that impaired procedural learning is a causal risk factor for developmental dyslexia and developmental language disorder. We investigated the relationships between measures of basic cognitive processes (declarative learning, procedural learning and attention) and measures of attainment (reading, grammar and…

Learners make a number of decisions when attempting to study efficiently: they must choose which information to study, for how long to study it, and whether to restudy it later. The current experiments examine whether documented impairments to self-regulated learning when studying information sequentially, as opposed to simultaneously, extend to…

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…

Individuals of all ages extract structure from the sequences of patterns they encounter in their environment, an ability that is at the very heart of cognition. Exactly what underlies this ability has been the subject of much debate over the years. A novel mechanism, implicit chunk recognition (ICR), is proposed for sequence segmentation and chunk…

Research on incidental sequence learning typically is concerned with the characteristics of implicit or nonconscious learning. In this article, the authors aim to elucidate the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to the generation of explicit, reportable sequence knowledge. According to the unexpected-event hypothesis (P. A. Frensch, H. Haider,…

This paper presents a temporal sequence memory based on the circuit configuration of the dentate gyrus of the mammalian hippocampus. (Author)

This document discusses how the organization of instruction influences the encoding and structuring of new material in the memory and the subsequent transfer of such information to novel situations. A theory of instruction for problem solving that considers relevant cognitive variables and that specifies the conditions for productive learning is…

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.…

Research supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, University of Minnesota, and National Research Council of Canada. (DS)