Abstract
It is well acknowledged that motor sequences can be learned quickly through online learning. Subsequently, the initial acquisition of a motor sequence is boosted or consolidated by offline learning. However, little is known whether offline learning can drive the fast learning of motor sequences (i.e., initial sequence learning in the first training session). To examine offline learning in the fast learning stage, we asked four groups of young adults to perform the serial reaction time (SRT) task with either a fixed or probabilistic sequence and with or without preliminary knowledge (PK) of the presence of a sequence. The sequence and PK were manipulated to emphasize either procedural (probabilistic sequence; no preliminary knowledge (NPK)) or declarative (fixed sequence; with PK) memory that were found to either facilitate or inhibit offline learning. In the SRT task, there were six learning blocks with a 2 min break between each consecutive block. Throughout the session, stimuli followed the same fixed or probabilistic pattern except in Block 5, in which stimuli appeared in a random order. We found that PK facilitated the learning of a fixed sequence, but not a probabilistic sequence. In addition to overall learning measured by the mean reaction time (RT), we examined the progressive changes in RT within and between blocks (i.e., online and offline learning, respectively). It was found that the two groups who performed the fixed sequence, regardless of PK, showed greater online learning than the other two groups who performed the probabilistic sequence. The groups who performed the probabilistic sequence, regardless of PK, did not display online learning, as indicated by a decline in performance within the learning blocks. However, they did demonstrate remarkably greater offline improvement in RT, which suggests that they are learning the probabilistic sequence offline. These results suggest that in the SRT task, the fast acquisition of a motor sequence is driven by concurrent online and offline learning. In addition, as the acquisition of a probabilistic sequence requires greater procedural memory compared to the acquisition of a fixed sequence, our results suggest that offline learning is more likely to take place in a procedural sequence learning task.
Highlights
In the laboratory, studies employing the serial reaction time (SRT) task (Nissen and Bullemer, 1987) have demonstrated that adults can learn a motor sequence quickly within a single training session
Given that offline learning in the SRT task has been found to be associated with procedural memory (Robertson et al, 2004a; Brown and Robertson, 2007a,b), we further investigate whether a bias towards procedural or declarative memory in the SRT task modulates offline and online sequence learning
RT was faster in block 6 compared to block 1 in the NPK_Prob group (p < 0.01) and this improvement approached significance in the PK_Prob group (p = 0.09)
Summary
Studies employing the serial reaction time (SRT) task (Nissen and Bullemer, 1987) have demonstrated that adults can learn a motor sequence quickly within a single training session (i.e., in 4 to 8 practice blocks; Nissen and Bullemer, 1987; Willingham et al, 1989; Robertson, 2007). Learning motor sequences in the SRT tasks typically involves both procedural and declarative memory (Willingham et al, 1989; Curran and Keele, 1993; Reber and Squire, 1994; Willingham and Goedert-Eschmann, 1999; Destrebecqz and Cleeremans, 2001; Brown and Robertson, 2007a; Robertson, 2007) In this task, participants press keys on the keyboard to respond to sequential visual stimuli that are presented in a pattern (e.g., a fixed order). We bias the involvement of procedural/declarative memory by manipulating the sequence type and PK of the sequence in the SRT task to examine whether offline or online learning mediate the acquisition of motor sequences in the fast learning stage. These results suggest that the involvement of procedural and declarative memory modulates how a motor sequence is learned in the fast learning stage
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