Implicit Learning Conditions Research Articles

Children’s Metacognition and Their Second Language Acquisition: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract The present study aimed to examine the relationship between children’s metacognition and their later second language acquisition in implicit and explicit learning conditions, as well as the effects of time and condition on children’s metacognition and second language acquisition. Seventy Chinese children (M = 8.13 ; sd = 3.34) were followed from Year 2 to Year 3 at primary school. Children in Group 1 were in the Explicit Learning Condition, while children in Group 2 were in the Implicit and Explicit Learning Condition. A range of tasks were used to assess children’s metacognition and second language acquisition. Children’s implicit metacognitive skills and explicit metacognitive knowledge had significant predictive roles in their later second language acquisition. Children in Group 2 had higher levels of improvement in later implicit and explicit metacognition as well as in implicit and explicit second language acquisition than their counterparts in Group 1.

Implicit Motor Learning Strategies Benefit Dual-Task Performance in Patients with Stroke.

Background and Objectives: In stroke rehabilitation, the use of either implicit or explicit learning as a motor learning approach during dual tasks is common, but it is unclear which strategy is more beneficial. This study aims to determine the benefits of implicit versus explicit motor learning approaches in patients with stroke. Materials and Methods: Seventeen patients with stroke and 21 control participants were included. Motor learning was evaluated using the Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT) in the context of dual-task conditions. The SRTT was conducted on two separate days: one day for implicit learning conditions and the other day for explicit learning conditions. Under the explicit learning conditions, a task rule was given to the participants before they started the task, but not under the implicit learning conditions. Learning scores were calculated for both implicit and explicit learning, and these scores were then compared within groups for patients with stroke and controls. We calculated the difference in learning scores between implicit and explicit learning and conducted a correlation analysis with the Trail Making Test (TMT) Parts A and B. Results: Learning scores on the SRTT were not different between implicit and explicit learning in controls but were significantly greater in patients with stroke for implicit learning than for explicit learning. The difference in learning scores between implicit and explicit learning in patients with stroke was correlated with TMT-A and showed a correlation trend with TMT-B. Conclusions: Implicit learning approaches may be effective in the acquisition of motor skills with dual-task demands in post-stroke patients with deficits in attention and working memory.

Sequence Learning in an Online Serial Reaction Time Task: The Effect of Task Instructions

The serial reaction time task (SRTT) is commonly used to study motor learning and memory. The task is traditionally administered in a lab setting with participants responding via button box or keyboard to targets on a screen. By comparing response times of sequential versus random trials and accuracy across sequential trials, different forms of learning can be studied. The present study utilized an online version of the SRTT to study the effects of instructions on learning. Participants were randomly assigned to an explicit learning condition (with instructions to learn the visual sequence and associated tone) or an implicit learning condition (without instructions). Stimuli in both learning conditions were presented in two phases: auditory and visual (training phase), followed by auditory only (testing phase). Results indicated that learning occurred in both training and testing phases, as shown by a significant decrease in response times. There was no significant main effect of learning condition (explicit or implicit) on sequence learning. This suggests that providing explicit instructions does not seem to influence sequence learning in the SRTT learning paradigm. Future online studies utilizing the SRTT should explore varying task instructions in a parametric manner to better understand cognitive processes that underlie sequence learning.

Motor sequence learning in a goal-directed stepping task in persons with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study.

Motor sequence learning in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and healthy controls (HC) under implicit or explicit learning conditions has not yet been investigated in a stepping task. Given the prevalent cognitive and mobility impairments in pwMS, this is important in order to understand motor learning processes and optimize rehabilitation strategies. Nineteen pwMS (the Expanded Disability Status Scale=3.4 ± 1.2) and 18 HC performed a modified serial reaction time task by stepping as fast as possible on a stepping tile when it lit up, either with (explicit) or without (implicit) knowledge of the presence of a sequence beforehand. Motor sequence learning was studied by examining response time changes and differences between sequence and random blocks during the learning session (acquisition), 24 h later (retention), and in three dual-task (DT) conditions at baseline and retention (automaticity) using subtracting sevens, verbal fluency, and vigilance as concurrent cognitive DTs. Response times improved and were lower for the sequenced compared with the random blocks at the post- and retention tests (P's < 0.001). Response times during DT conditions improved after learning, but DT cost improved only for the subtracting sevens DT condition. No differences in learning were observed between learning conditions or groups. This study showed motor sequence learning, by acquisition and retention, in a stepping task in pwMS with motor impairments, to a similar degree as HC and regardless of learning conditions. Whether automaticity increased remains unclear.

The acquisition of pragmatic markers in the foreign language classroom: An experimental study on the effects of implicit and explicit learning

This study discusses the results of an experimental study on the usage of pragmatic markers (PMs) by adolescent German-speaking L2 learners of English in the foreign language classroom. The experiment measured the success of PM usage skills under explicit and implicit learning conditions based on input flood, compared to a control group that received no training on the use of PMs. Competence in using PMs was measured with communicative tasks in a pretest (immediately prior to the experiment) and a posttest (one day after the training). The results, which derive from spoken conversational data collected from 18 advanced learners of English in a high school context, show that short-term effects as regards usage frequency and diversity of PMs could be reached only for the learners who underwent explicit teaching, who showed a significant increase in the frequency of use of PMs in conversational L2 speech and expanded the range of PMs beyond the set of PMs that had been used before the training. The results raise intriguing questions regarding the learnability of conversational routines in L2 acquisition.

Decreased thalamo-cortico connectivity during an implicit sequence motor learning task and 7\xa0days escitalopram intake

Evidence suggests that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) reorganize neural networks via a transient window of neuroplasticity. While previous findings support an effect of SSRIs on intrinsic functional connectivity, little is known regarding the influence of SSRI-administration on connectivity during sequence motor learning. To investigate this, we administered 20 mg escitalopram or placebo for 1-week to 60 healthy female participants undergoing concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging and sequence motor training in a double-blind randomized controlled design. We assessed task-modulated functional connectivity with a psycho-physiological interaction (PPI) analysis in the thalamus, putamen, cerebellum, dorsal premotor, primary motor, supplementary motor, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices. Comparing an implicit sequence learning condition to a control learning condition, we observed decreased connectivity between the thalamus and bilateral motor regions after 7 days of escitalopram intake. Additionally, we observed a negative correlation between plasma escitalopram levels and PPI connectivity changes, with higher escitalopram levels being associated with greater thalamo-cortico decreases. Our results suggest that escitalopram enhances network-level processing efficiency during sequence motor learning, despite no changes in behaviour. Future studies in more diverse samples, however, with quantitative imaging of neurochemical markers of excitation and inhibition, are necessary to further assess neural responses to escitalopram.

The role of feedback and instruction on the cross-situational learning of vocabulary and morphosyntax: Mixed effects models reveal local and global effects on acquisition

First language acquisition is implicit, in that explicit information about the language structure to be learned is not provided to children. Instead, they must acquire both vocabulary and grammar incrementally, by generalizing across multiple situations that eventually enable links between words in utterances and referents in the environment to be established. However, this raises a problem of how vocabulary can be acquired without first knowing the role of the word within the syntax of a sentence. It also raises practical issues about the extent to which different instructional conditions – about grammar in advance of learning or feedback about correct decisions during learning – might influence second language acquisition of implicitly experienced information about the language. In an artificial language learning study, we studied participants learning language from inductive exposure, but under different instructional conditions. Language learners were exposed to complex utterances and complex scenes and had to determine the meaning and the grammar of the language from these co-occurrences with environmental scenes. We found that learning was boosted by explicit feedback, but not by explicit instruction about the grammar of the language, compared to an implicit learning condition. However, the effect of feedback was not general across all aspects of the language. Feedback improved vocabulary, but did not affect syntax learning. We further investigated the local, contextual effects on learning, and found that previous knowledge of vocabulary within an utterance improved learning but that this was driven only by certain grammatical categories in the language. The results have implications for theories of second language learning informed by our understanding of first language acquisition as well as practical implications for learning instruction and optimal, contingent adjustment of learners’ environment during their learning.

Modelling Changes in the Cognitive Processing of Grammar in Implicit and Explicit Learning Conditions: Insights From an Eye-Tracking Study

This study used eye-tracking to examine changes in how second language (L2) learners process target grammatical exemplars in written L2 input in implicit and explicit instructional conditions and how these changes relate to learning gains. In three separate sessions, 77 L2 learners of English read a story containing seven examples of a grammatical construction. The results of a growth curve analysis indicated significant main effects for the instructional condition and test sessions on total fixation duration and a significant interaction between these two variables. There was minimal attentional processing and no improvement in processing efficiency of the target construction in the unenhanced condition. Learners’ attentional processing in the textually enhanced conditions decreased and, by the end of the experiment, they engaged in establishing and fine-tuning form-meaning links. In the two explicit instructional conditions, participants’ attention decreased over time and form-meaning representations of the target structure were strengthened.

Explicit Awareness does not Modulate Retrograde Interference Effects in Sequence Learning

ABSTRACTMotor sequences are learned explicitly or implicitly based on conscious awareness of the sequence. Interference happens when two sequences are learned successively. Here, we aimed to determine whether implicit and explicit sequence learning are affected differently by retrograde interference. Young healthy volunteers participated in either a control or interference group and either an explicit or implicit learning condition. We used a modified serial reaction time task to induce sequence learning and control awareness. Results showed that the overall amount of sequence learning was greater in the explicit condition compared to implicit. However, sequence learning was equally susceptible to retrograde interference under either condition. We conclude that although susceptible to interference, explicit awareness improves overall sequence learning compared to implicit conditions.

Acquisition of skilled finger movements is accompanied by reorganization of the corticospinal system.

Dexterous finger movements are often characterized by highly coordinated movements. Such coordination might be derived from reorganization of the corticospinal system. In this study, we investigated 1) the manner in which finger movement covariation patterns are acquired, by examining the effects of the implicit and explicit learning of a serial reaction time task (SRTT), and 2) how such changes in finger coordination are represented in the corticospinal system. The subjects learned a button press sequence in both implicit and explicit learning conditions. In the implicit conditions, they were naive about what they were learning, whereas in the explicit conditions the subjects consciously learned the order of the sequence elements. Principal component analysis decomposed both the voluntary movements produced during the SRTT and the passive movements evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the primary motor cortex into a set of five finger joint covariation patterns. The structures of the voluntary and passive TMS-evoked movement patterns were reorganized by implicit learning but not explicit learning. Furthermore, in the implicit learning conditions the finger covariation patterns derived from the TMS-evoked and voluntary movements spanned similar movement subspaces. These results provide the first evidence that skilled sequential finger movements are acquired differently through implicit and explicit learning, i.e., the changes in finger coordination patterns induced by implicit learning are accompanied by functional reorganization of the corticospinal system, whereas explicit learning results in faster recruitment of individual finger movements without causing any changes in finger coordination. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Skilled sequential multifinger movements are characterized as highly coordinated movement patterns. These finger coordination patterns are represented in the corticospinal system, yet it still remains unclear how these patterns are acquired through implicit and explicit motor sequence learning. A direct comparison of learning-related changes between actively generated finger movements and passively evoked finger movements by TMS provided evidence that finger coordination patterns represented in the corticospinal system are reorganized through implicit, but not explicit, sequence learning.

The Relative Merits of Explicit and Implicit Learning of Contrasted Algebra Principles

Knowledge representations that result from practicing problem solving can be expected to differ from knowledge representations that emerge from explicit verbalizing of principles and rules. We examined the degree to which the two types of learning improve problem-solving knowledge and verbal explanation knowledge in classroom instruction. We presented algebraic addition and multiplication problems to 153 sixth graders randomly assigned to two conditions. Students in the explicit learning condition had to verbally compare contrasted algebra problems. Students in the implicit learning condition had to generate and solve new problems. On three follow-up tests over 10 weeks, students in the explicit learning condition exhibited better problem-solving knowledge than students in the implicit learning condition, as well as some advantages in verbal concept knowledge. Implicit learning showed some advantages on not directly taught but incidentally learned aspects. Overall, this outcome favors the explicit learning of concepts. Explicit comparison fostered student performance on non-verbal and verbal measures, indicating that verbalization facilitates effective comparison.

The role of working memory in processing L2 input: Insights from eye-tracking

Our study investigated how attention paid to a target syntactic constructioncausative hadis related to the storage capacity and attention regulation function of working memory (WM) and how these WM abilities moderate the change of knowledge of the target construction in different input conditions. 80 Sri Lankan learners of English were exposed to examples of the target construction in explicit and implicit learning conditions and their eye movements were tracked as they read the input. Correlational and multiple regression analyses indicated a very strong relationship between WM abilities and gains in the knowledge of the target construction. WM scores were closely associated with gains in receptive knowledge in all input conditions, but they had a weaker link to the improvement of productive knowledge in the implicit learning conditions. The amount of attention paid to input was also strongly related to WM abilities.

Implicit and Explicit Learning of a Sequential Postural Weight-Shifting Task in Young and Older Adults.

Sequence-specific postural motor learning in a target-directed weight-shifting task in 12 older and 12 young participants was assessed. In the implicit sequence learning condition participants performed a concurrent spatial cognitive task and in the two explicit conditions participants were required to discover the sequence order either with or without the concurrent cognitive task. Participants moved a cursor on the screen from the center location to one of the target locations projected in a semi-circle and back by shifting their center of pressure (CoP) on force plates. During the training the targets appeared in a simple fixed 5-target sequence. Plan-based control (i.e., direction of the CoP displacement in the first part of the target-directed movement) improved by anticipating the sequence order in the implicit condition but not in the explicit dual task condition. Only the young participants were able to use the explicit knowledge of the sequence structure to improve the directional error as indicated by a significant decrease in directional error over practice and an increase in directional error with sequence removal in the explicit single task condition. Time spent in the second part of the movement trajectory to stabilize the cursor on the target location improved over training in both the implicit and explicit sequence learning conditions, for both age groups. These results might indicate that an implicit motor learning method, which holds back explicit awareness of task relevant features, may be desirable for improving plan-based motor control in older adults.

The key to success in elite athletes? Explicit and implicit motor learning in youth elite and non-elite soccer players

ABSTRACTIn sports, fast and accurate execution of movements is required. It has been shown that implicitly learned movements might be less vulnerable than explicitly learned movements to stressful and fast changing circumstances that exist at the elite sports level. The present study provides insight in explicit and implicit motor learning in youth soccer players with different expertise levels. Twenty-seven youth elite soccer players and 25 non-elite soccer players (aged 10–12) performed a serial reaction time task (SRTT). In the SRTT, one of the sequences must be learned explicitly, the other was implicitly learned. No main effect of group was found for implicit and explicit learning on mean reaction time (MRT) and accuracy. However, for MRT, an interaction was found between learning condition, learning phase and group. Analyses showed no group effects for the explicit learning condition, but youth elite soccer players showed better learning in the implicit learning condition. In particular, during implicit motor learning youth elite soccer showed faster MRTs in the early learning phase and earlier reached asymptote performance in terms of MRT. Present findings may be important for sports because children with superior implicit learning abilities in early learning phases may be able to learn more (durable) motor skills in a shorter time period as compared to other children.

The Role of Working Memory Capacity Under Implicit Learning Conditions: A Study of Its Impact on Learning English Phrasal Verbs

Although a relationship has been established between working memory and explicit learning, learning achievements under implicit conditions remains an...

Implicit and explicit statistical learning of tone sequences across spectral shifts

We investigated how the statistical learning of auditory sequences is reflected in neuromagnetic responses in implicit and explicit learning conditions. Complex tones with fundamental frequencies (F0s) in a five-tone equal temperament were generated by a formant synthesizer. The tones were subsequently ordered with the constraint that the probability of the forthcoming tone was statistically defined (80% for one tone; 5% for the other four) by the latest two successive tones (second-order Markov chains). The tone sequence consisted of 500 tones and 250 successive tones with a relative shift of F0s based on the same Markov transitional matrix. In explicit and implicit learning conditions, neuromagnetic responses to the tone sequence were recorded from fourteen right-handed participants. The temporal profiles of the N1m responses to the tones with higher and lower transitional probabilities were compared. In the explicit learning condition, the N1m responses to tones with higher transitional probability were significantly decreased compared with responses to tones with lower transitional probability in the latter half of the 500-tone sequence. Furthermore, this difference was retained even after the F0s were relatively shifted. In the implicit learning condition, N1m responses to tones with higher transitional probability were significantly decreased only for the 250 tones following the relative shift of F0s. The delayed detection of learning effects across the sound-spectral shift in the implicit condition may imply that learning may progress earlier in explicit learning conditions than in implicit learning conditions. The finding that the learning effects were retained across spectral shifts regardless of the learning modality indicates that relative pitch processing may be an essential ability for humans.

Modulation of frontal and parietal neuronal activity by visuomotor learning. An ERP analysis of implicit and explicit pursuit tracking tasks

The present study investigated changes in frontal and parietal activity related to visuomotor learning. Improvement in task performance should be achieved by a transition from feedback control to feedforward control. Event-related potential (ERP) activity related to visual feedback analysis of successful error corrections was expected to decrease at parietal scalp locations. (Pre-) motor activity related to the execution of directional changes should increase and begin earlier.While using a mouse or a joystick for cursor control, subjects performed four different conditions of a pursuit tracking task in a between-subject design. To increase task difficulty, and to set up an implicit learning condition, the gain between mouse/joystick movement and cursor movement increased during the middle of each tracking trial. Subjects were informed about this manipulation in the explicit task only. Within the continuous movement of 12s duration, ERPs were assigned to phasic changes of target and cursor direction.Visuomotor learning was mainly achieved by a continuous reduction of target and cursor distance. A fronto-central positive ERP component related to the execution of a directional change increased earlier after learning. This indicates an anticipated directional change, improving task performance. ERP activity after error corrections decreased after learning, indicating either a higher efficiency or a reduced demand in visual feedback control. Activity difference was shifted from parietal to fronto-central sites later indicating a relation to improved feedforward control. No clear difference between implicit and explicit learning was observed for behavioural and ERP data.

Reversal deficits in individuals with psychopathy in explicit but not implicit learning conditions.

Psychopathy is a severe personality disorder that has been linked to impaired behavioural adaptation during reinforcement learning. Recent electrophysiological studies have suggested that psychopathy is related to impairments in intentionally using information relevant for adapting behaviour, whereas these impairments remain absent for behaviour relying on automatic use of information. We sought to investigate whether previously found impairments in response reversal in individuals with psychopathy also follow this dichotomy. We expected response reversal to be intact when the automatic use of information was facilitated. In contrast, we expected impaired response reversal when intentional use of information was required. We included offenders with psychopathy and matched healthy controls in 2 experiments with a probabilistic cued go/no-go reaction time task. The task implicated the learning and reversal of 2 predictive contingencies. In experiment 1, participants were not informed about the inclusion of a learning component, thus making cue-dependent learning automatic/incidental. In experiment 2, the instructions required participants to actively monitor and learn predictive relationships, giving learning a controlled/intentional nature. While there were no significant group differences in acquisition learning in either experiment, the results revealed impaired response reversal in offenders with psychopathy when controlled learning was facilitated. Interestingly, this impairment was absent when automatic learning was predominant. Possible limitations are the use of a nonforensic control group and of self-report measures for drug use. Response reversal deficits in individuals with psychopathy are modulated by the context provided by the instructions, according to the distinction between automatic and controlled processing in these individuals.

Thinking styles in implicit and explicit learning

This study investigated whether individual differences in thinking styles influence explicit and implicit learning. Eighty-seven university students in China participated in this study. Results indicated that performance in the explicit learning condition was positively associated with Type I thinking styles (i.e. legislative and liberal styles) and the internal style and negatively associated with a Type II thinking style (i.e. conservative style) and the external style. There was no significant relationship between thinking styles and performance in the implicit learning condition. Taken together, these findings suggest that implicit and explicit learning are distinct, each influenced by different individual difference variables. It also provides support to the value-laden nature of styles, giving further evidence to the adaptiveness of Type I over Type II styles.

Individual differences in adult foreign language learning: The mediating effect of metalinguistic awareness

In this study, we sought to identify cognitive predictors of individual differences in adult foreign-language learning and to test whether metalinguistic awareness mediated the observed relationships. Using a miniature language-learning paradigm, adults (N = 77) learned Russian vocabulary and grammar (gender agreement and case marking) over six 1-h sessions, completing tasks that encouraged attention to phrases without explicitly teaching grammatical rules. The participants' ability to describe the Russian gender and case-marking patterns mediated the effects of nonverbal intelligence and auditory sequence learning on grammar learning and generalization. Hence, even under implicit-learning conditions, individual differences stemmed from explicit metalinguistic awareness of the underlying grammar, which, in turn, was linked to nonverbal intelligence and auditory sequence learning. Prior knowledge of languages with grammatical gender (predominantly Spanish) predicted learning of gender agreement. Transfer of knowledge of gender from other languages to Russian was not mediated by awareness, which suggests that transfer operates through an implicit process akin to structural priming.