Implicit Sequence Learning of Background and Goal Information Under Double Dimensions

Abstract

Double-dimension serial reaction task in which color and alphabet were set as background and operating stimulus respectively was used to explore implicit learning in the present study. Subjects were instructed to react to the alphabets with or without the background colors in one of the following conditions: random sequence, regular sequence or blank (i.e., no background color).The results showed that random background color sequence interfered with the implicit learning of alphabet sequence. Participants’ implicit learning score in the random background color sequence was significantly lower than those in the regular background color sequence and no color background conditions. Moreover, when compared with no-background-color condition, regular-background-color sequence did not affect the learning of alphabet sequence. Finally, it was found that background color could be implicitly processed regardless whether it was in regular or random sequence.