Implicit learning is based on abstract features: A color sequence transfers to a location sequence
Tue-P3-Poster II-205
Presented by: Sarah Wilts
Implicit learning is thought to be one basic learning mechanism, taking place without conscious awareness about the fact that one learns or what one learns. Implicit learning is assumed to take place in distributed sets of encapsulated, specialized, and parallel working modules. However, it is not clear yet what exactly is processed in these modules. Do modules either process purely perceptual or motoric information or do they process distinct features regardless of whether they belong to perception- or action-related processing? One way to study the building blocks of implicit learning is to analyze the conditions for learning transfer from one domain to another. According to modularized theories, the encapsulated modules might not exchange their sequence knowledge which would render learning transfer impossible. However, based on the Theory of Event Coding, we argue that learning transfer might occur if the task set enables a binding between two features in an event file. In an experiment with four conditions, we tested whether learning is neither purely perceptual nor motoric, but abstract and even transferrable. The participants were able to transfer a perceptual color sequence to a spatial location sequence. However, learning transfer occurred only when the participants bound the colors to specific locations in event files prior to training. Interestingly, this held true when colors shared a spatial arrangement with locations in terms of their brightness, and even when colors and locations were arbitrarily bound. Hence, our study concludes that features are the building blocks of implicit learning.
Keywords: implicit learning, learning transfer, features, consciousness