Automaticity in motor sequence learning does not impair response inhibition

We examined the relationship between automaticity and response inhibition in the serial reaction time (SRT) task to test the common assertion that automatic behavior is ballistic. Participants trained for 3 h on the SRT, using blocks of a second-order conditional sequence interleaved with random blocks. Automaticity was measured using a concurrent secondary letter-counting task. Response inhibition was measured using a stop-signal task. RTs decreased with training, with a greater decrease for sequenced versus random blocks. Training correlated with a decreased RT cost to performing the secondary task concurrently with the SRT, indicating the development of automaticity. Crucially, there was no change in the ability to inhibit responses at the end of training, even in individuals who showed no dual-task interference. These results demonstrate that the ability to inhibit a motor response does not decrease with automaticity, suggesting that some aspects of automatic behavior are not ballistic.     

Response-to-stimulus interval does not affect implicit motor sequence learning, but does affect performance

Nissen and Bullemer (1987) reported that implicit motor sequence learning was disrupted by the addition of a secondary task. They suggested that this effect was due to the attentional load that the secondary task adds. Recently it has been suggested that the attentional load is not critical, but rather that the secondary task affects timing, either by lengthening or by making inconsistent the response-tostimulus interval (RSI)-that is, the delay between when a subject makes a response and when the next stimulus appears. In six experiments we manipulated the RSI and found no support for these two hypotheses. An inconsistent RSI did not adversely affect implicit motor sequence learning. A long RSI did not affect learning, although under some conditions subjects did not express learning if the RSI was long. These results are interpreted as reflecting the effects of attention.     

Mixing topics while studying does not enhance learning

According to a recent survey, it is common for students to study two topics at the same time using flashcards, and students who do so virtually always keep the topics separate instead of mixing flashcards together (Wissman, Rawson, & Pyc, 2012). We predicted that mixing might be a relatively easy way to increase learning efficiency because mixing increases the spacing between repetitions of a given item, and spacing enhances long-term learning. We compared two conditions: in the mixed condition, participants alternated on each trial between studying anatomy terms and Indonesian translations. In the unmixed condition they studied one topic and then the other. Items were interleaved within item-type in both conditions. Mixing did not have reliable effects when participants studied flashcards in a single day (Experiments 1 and 2) or on two different days (Experiments 3 and 4). Thus, the results seem to disconfirm two sets of beliefs: students’ universal belief that mixing flashcards is undesirable and cognitive psychologists’ belief that doing so should be encouraged.     

Redundant sensory information does not enhance sequence learning in the serial reaction time task

In daily life we encounter multiple sources of sensory information at any given moment. Unknown is whether such sensory redundancy in some way affects implicit learning of a sequence of events. In the current paper we explored this issue in a serial reaction time task. Our results indicate that redundant sensory information does not enhance sequence learning when all sensory information is presented at the same location (responding to the position and/or color of the stimuli; Experiment 1), even when the distinct sensory sources provide more or less similar baseline response latencies (responding to the shape and/or color of the stimuli; Experiment 2). These findings support the claim that sequence learning does not (necessarily) benefit from sensory redundancy. Moreover, transfer was observed between various sets of stimuli, indicating that learning was predominantly response-based.     

Implicit motor sequence learning is not purely perceptual

Many reports have indicated that implicit learning of sequences in a choice response time task is primarily perceptual; subjects learn the sequence of stimuli rather than the sequence of motor responses. Three experiments tested whether implicit motor sequence learning could be purely perceptual: no support was found for that hypothesis. Subjects who merely watched stimuli did not learn the sequence implicitly (Experiment 1), and sequence learning transferred robustly to a different set of stimulus cues (Experiment 2). In the final experiment, the stimulus-response mapping was changed at transfer so that one group of subjects pushed the same sequence of keys but saw new stimuli, whereas another group pushed a different sequence of keys but saw the same stimuli. Transfer to the new mapping was shown only if the motor sequence was kept constant, not the perceptual sequence. It is proposed that subjects learn a sequence of response locations in this and similar tasks.     

Non-declarative sequence learning does not show savings in relearning

Researchers have utilized the savings in relearning paradigm in a variety of settings since Ebbinghaus developed the tool over a century ago. In spite of its widespread use, we do not yet understand what type(s) of memory are measurable by savings. Specifically, can savings measure both declarative and non-declarative memories? The lack of conscious recollection of the encoded material in some studies indicates that non-declarative memories may show savings effects, but as all studies to date have used declarative tasks, we cannot be certain. Here, we administer a non-declarative task and then measure savings in relearning the material declaratively. Our results show that while material outside of awareness may show savings effects, non-declarative sequence memory does not. These data highlight the important distinction between memory without awareness and non-declarative memory.     

Performance-based adaptive schedules enhance motor learning

Although investigators have shown that random scheduling of several tasks enhances learning more than blocked scheduling does, the advantages of random scheduling may be limited because it does not take into account the nominal difficulty of each task, the difference in difficulty between tasks, and the skill level of the learner in that type of schedule. The authors propose 2 new algorithms for adaptively determining the nominal difficulty and the number of trials for each task on the basis of both current and delayed performance of the learner (N = 48). The authors tested the adaptive algorithms in a 2 x 2 factorial design, and they show that the algorithms outperform random scheduling when performance is measured on a delayed retention test.     

Implicit motor sequence learning is not represented purely in response locations

This study employed a novel variant of the serial reaction time task, focused on sequencing one element of movement—direction. During the task a repeated pattern of alternating directions (right–left–right, etc.) was embedded in the stimuli, and there was no series of response locations. Responses were made via two effector systems: single-finger responding (necessitates lateral arm movements between response keys), and four-fingered responding (4 individual fingers on 4 individual keys; requires no lateral arm movement). The sequence of directions was only learned by participants who performed lateral movements during training, indicating that learning was contingent on the particular motor effector used. Participants with low levels of sequence awareness displayed the same pattern of results.     

Up-regulation of exploratory tendencies does not enhance general learning abilities in juvenile or young-adult outbred mice

"General cognitive ability" describes a trait that transcends specific learning domains and impacts a wide range of cognitive skills. Individual animals (including humans) exhibit wide variations in their expression of this trait. We have previously determined that the propensity for exploration is highly correlated with the general cognitive abilities of individual outbred mice. Here, we asked if inducing an increase in exploratory behaviors would causally promote an increase in animals' general learning abilities. In three experiments, juvenile and young-adult male CD-1 outbred mice were exposed to 12 novel environments starting at post-natal days 39 (juvenile) and 61 (young adult), after which they underwent a series of cognitive and exploratory tests as adults (beginning at post-natal day 79). Exposure to novel environments promoted increases in exploration (across multiple measures) on two different tasks, including an elevated plus maze. However, a subsequent test of general learning abilities (aggregate performance across five distinct learning tasks) determined that exposure to novel environments as juveniles or young-adults had no effect on general learning abilities in adulthood. Therefore, while exposure to novel environments promotes long-lasting increases in mice's exploratory tendencies, these increases in exploration do not appear to causally impact general learning abilities.     

Sleep and the time course of motor skill learning

Growing evidence suggests that sleep plays an important role in the process of procedural learning. Most recently, sleep has been implicated in the continued development of motor-skill learning following initial acquisition. However, the temporal evolution of motor learning before and after sleep, the effects of different training regimens, and the long-term development of motor learning across multiple nights of sleep remain unknown. Here, we report data for subjects trained and retested on a sequential finger-tapping task across multiple days. The findings demonstrate firstly that following initial training, small practice-dependent improvements are possible before, but not following the large practice-independent gains that develop across a night of sleep. Secondly, doubling the quantity of initial training does not alter the amount of subsequent sleep-dependent learning that develops overnight. Thirdly, the amount of sleep-dependent learning does not correlate with the amount of practice-dependent learning achieved during training, suggesting the existence of two discrete motor-learning processes. Finally, whereas the majority of sleep-dependent motor-skill learning develops during the first night of sleep following training, additional nights of sleep still offer continued improvements.     

Altering mindset can enhance motor learning in older adults

Beliefs about personal capability have been shown to affect performance. Lowered ability expectations due to older age may themselves contribute to a decline in performance. In the present study, we investigated whether enhancing older adults' performance expectancies would facilitate the learning of a novel balance task. In Experiment 1, providing older women (71 years) with fabricated feedback indicating that their performance was above average reduced their ability-related concerns and nervousness, and resulted in more effective balance learning, compared with a control group. In Experiment 2, also involving older women (64 years), a simple statement made at the beginning of practice, suggesting that their peers usually do well on that task, enhanced participants' self-efficacy and learning of the task. These results demonstrate that motor performance and learning in older age can be influenced quickly and positively by enhancing individuals' ability perceptions.     

Haptic guidance can enhance motor learning of a steering task

Haptic guidance can improve the immediate performance of a motor task by enforcing a desired pattern of kinematics, but several studies have found that it impairs motor learning. In this study, we studied whether guidance from a robotic steering wheel can improve one's short-term learning of steering a simulated vehicle. We developed a computer algorithm that adapted the firmness of the guidance based on ongoing error. Training with "guidance-as-needed" or "fixed guidance" allowed participants to learn to steer without experiencing large errors and produced slightly better immediate retention than did training without guidance, apparently because participants were better able to learn when to initiate turns. Training with guidance-as-needed produced slightly better results than training with fixed guidance: the guidance-as-needed participants' errors were significantly smaller when guidance was removed. However, this difference quickly dissipated with more practice. We conclude that haptic guidance can benefit short-term learning of a steering-type task while also limiting performance errors during training.     

Ignored visual context does not induce latent learning

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - People usually become faster at finding a visual target after repeated exposure to the same search display. This effect, known as contextual cueing, is often...     

Aging affects motor learning but not savings at transfer of learning

Two important components of skill learning are the learning process itself (motor acquisition) and the ability to transfer what has been learned to new task variants (motor transfer). Many studies have documented age-related declines in the ability to learn new manual motor skills. In this study, I tested whether the degree of savings at transfer of learning is similarly affected by advancing age. Young and older adults made aiming movements with a joystick to hit targets presented on a computer screen, with real-time feedback display of their movement. They adapted to three different rotations of the feedback display in a sequential fashion, with return to the normal feedback display between each. Adaptation performance was better when it was preceded by other adaptive experiences, regardless of age.     

Implicit motor sequence learning is represented in response locations

Previous work (Willingham, 1999) has indicated that implicit motor sequence learning is not primarily perceptual; that is, what is learned is not a sequence of stimuli. Still other work has indicated that implicit motor sequence learning is not specific to particular muscle groups or effectors. In the present work, we tested whether implicit motor sequence learning would be represented as a sequence of response locations. In Experiment 1, learning showed very poor transfer when the response locations were changed, even though the stimulus positions were unchanged. In Experiment 2, participants switched their hand positions at transfer, so that one group of participants pushed the same sequence of keys but used a different sequence of finger movements to do so, whereas another group pushed a different sequence of keys but used the same sequence of finger movements used at training. Knowledge of the sequence was shown at transfer only if the sequence of response locations was maintained, not the sequence of finger movements.     

Recall is not necessary for verbal sequence learning

The question of whether overt recall of to-be-remembered material accelerates learning is important in a wide range of real-world learning settings. In the case of verbal sequence learning, previous research has proposed that recall either is necessary for verbal sequence learning (Cohen & Johansson Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 6, 139–143, 1967; Cunningham, Healy, & Williams Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 10, 575–597, 1984), or at least contributes significantly to it (Glass, Krejci, & Goldman Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 189–199, 1989; Oberauer & Meyer Memory, 17, 774–781, 2009). In contrast, here we show that the amount of previous spoken recall does not predict learning and is not necessary for it. We suggest that previous research may have underestimated participants’ learning by using suboptimal performance measures, or by using manual or written recall. However, we show that the amount of spoken recall predicted how much interference from other to-be-remembered sequences would be observed. In fact, spoken recall mediated most of the error learning observed in the task. Our data support the view that the learning of overlapping auditory–verbal sequences is driven by learning the phonological representations and not the articulatory motor responses. However, spoken recall seems to reinforce already learned representations, whether they are correct or incorrect, thus contributing to a participant identifying a specific stimulus as either “learned” or “new” during the presentation phase.     

Verbal actions of physiotherapists to enhance motor learning in children with DCD

In this study, the motor teaching principles taxonomy (MTPT) was developed to investigate which teaching principles physiotherapists use to treat children with developmental coordination disorder during Neuromotor Task Training (NTT). In NTT, special attention is paid to the best ways to instruct and provide feedback. Based on motor learning theory and video observations of NTT treatments, teaching principles aimed at improving motor learning were categorised into three categories: giving instruction, providing or asking feedback, and sharing knowledge. The MTPT's reliability and validity were satisfactory. Therapists gave instructions very frequently. In addition, the principle frequency showed hardly any correlation with the children's initial motor performance level, indicating that the principles used are not related to the child's entry level.     

Representing visual recursion does not require verbal or motor resources

The ability to form and use recursive representations while processing hierarchical structures has been hypothesized to rely on language abilities. If so, linguistic resources should inevitably be activated while representing recursion in non-linguistic domains. In this study we use a dual-task paradigm to assess whether verbal resources are required to perform a visual recursion task. We tested participants across 4 conditions: (1) Visual recursion only, (2) Visual recursion with motor interference (sequential finger tapping), (3) Visual recursion with verbal interference – low load, and (4) Visual recursion with verbal interference – high load. Our results show that the ability to acquire and use visual recursive representations is not affected by the presence of verbal and motor interference tasks. Our finding that visual recursion can be represented without access to verbal resources suggests that recursion is available independently of language processing abilities.     

An egocentric frame of reference in implicit motor sequence learning

We investigated which frame of reference is evoked during implicit motor sequence learning. Participants completed a typical serial reaction time task. In the first experiment, we isolated egocentric and allocentric frames of reference and found that learning was solely in an egocentric reference frame. In a second experiment, we isolated hand-centered space from other egocentric frames of reference. We found that for a one-handed sequencing task, the sequence was coded in an egocentric reference frame but not a hand-centered reference frame. Our results are restricted to implicit learning of novel sequences in the early stages of learning. These findings are consistent with claims that the neural mechanisms involved in motor skill learning operate in egocentric coordinates.     

Perceptual interference improves explicit memory but does not enhance data-driven processing.

Nairne (1988) has recently demonstrated that interfering with the perceptual processing of an item at study improves later memory for that item. Nairne hypothesized that interfering with perceptual processes induces a data-driven generation process that enhances the representation of visual information. Using a variant of Nairne's procedure, we both replicated his original findings and tested his hypothesis that enhanced data-driven processing causes the current effect. The results of studies using free recall and perceptual identification tests were inconsistent with Nairne's hypothesis. We consider several alternative interpretations in the General Discussion.