Attentional and nonattentional forms of sequence learning.

Abstract

This research investigated the hypothesis that sequential patterns of behavior can be learned by 2 independent mechanisms. One requires attention to the relation between successive events, whereas the other operates independently of such attention. In 4 experiments, subjects learned visuospatial sequences in a serial reaction time task. The relation between attentional and nonattentional learning was explored by assessing the extent to which learning transferred between conditions with or without distraction. The results suggest that attentional and nonattentional learning operate independently, in parallel, do not share information, and represent sequential information in qualitatively different ways. A fundamental type of learning in which humans excel is the learning of sequential patterns of behavior. In four experiments, we investigated the hypothesis that humans exhibit two forms of sequential learning. One form of learning requires attention to the relation between successive events in the sequence, not only for acquisition but also for the expression of the learning in performance. We hypothesized that the other type of sequential learning did not require attention to these relations. Furthermore, these two forms of learning are independent of one another, with no communication or sharing of information between them. If subjects perform a series of behavioral acts that occur in a predictable order and under conditions relatively free of distraction, we suppose that attentionally based and nonattentionally based learning of the sequence occur in parallel. If distraction is added during learning, the attentional form is disabled, but the nonattentional one is unmodified. That is, attention is neither necessary nor helpful to the nonattentional form of learning. This hypothesis is similar to ideas examined by other investigators but is also different in several ways. Nissen and her colleagues (Nissen & Bullemer, 1987; Willingham, Nissen, & Bullemer, 1989; see also Lewicki, Hill, & Bizot, 1988; Stadler, 1989) have suggested that learning of sequences can be either procedural (without awareness) or declarative (with awareness). Both of these, according to Nissen, require attention. We distinguish both of those forms from a third, nonattentional type of learning.