1. The mechanics of implicit learning of contingencies: A commentary on Custers & Aarts’ paper
- Author
-
Baruch Eitam
- Subjects
Conditioning (Psychology) ,Artificial grammar learning ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Awareness ,Implicit learning ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,Conditioning, Psychological ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,Humans ,Learning ,Intentional learning ,Attention ,Sequence learning ,Selective attention ,Implicit attitude ,Psychology ,Association (psychology) ,Cognitive psychology - Abstract
In their paper: "Learning of Predictive Relations Between Events Depends on Attention, Not on Awareness" Custers & Aarts demonstrate that when one is first exposed to a clear predictive relationship - a consequent predictive relationship will be represented as a unidirectional association ("predictor" to "predicted") in the percievers' minds regardless of their awareness of that relationship. Furthermore, a conscious intention to learn the relationship leads to the formation of a bidirectional (non-predictive) association. While these findings may prove to be a significant step in understanding other forms of implicit learning such as implicit artificial grammar learning and implicit sequence learning and why they are affected by intentional learning; Custers & Aarts' postulation that "top-down" regulation is at work here is debatable as their experimental manipulation can be understood as "bottom-up" activation of implicit learning processes.
- Published
- 2011