Interference Produces Different Forgetting Rates for Implicit and Explicit Knowledge

Author(s):  
Ricardo Tamayo ◽  
Peter A. Frensch

Abstract. Exposure to a repeating set of target strings generated by an artificial grammar in a speeded matching task generates both explicit and implicit knowledge. Previous research has shown that implicit knowledge (assessed via a priming measure) is preserved after a retention interval of one week but explicit knowledge (assessed via recognition) is significantly reduced ( Tunney, 2003 ). In two experiments, we replicated and extended Tunney's findings. Experiment 1 was a partial replication of the experiment conducted by Tunney (2003) , and demonstrated that the decline in recognition shown by Tunney was not due to a repetition of test items at the pre and post times of assessment. In addition, Experiment 1 lends credibility to Tunney's assumption that recognition scores assess explicit rather than implicit knowledge. Experiment 2 extended Tunney's findings theoretically by demonstrating that interference can produce the pattern of findings demonstrated in the present Experiment 1 as well as in Tunney (2003) .

Author(s):  
Ricardo Tamayo ◽  
Peter A. Frensch

Abstract. Previous research has shown that explicit and implicit knowledge of artificial grammars may decay at different rates (e.g., Tamayo & Frensch, 2007 ; Tunney, 2003 ). We extend these findings to sequential regularities embedded in serial reaction time (SRT) tasks. We compared the forgetting patterns of implicit and explicit knowledge after a retention interval of 7 days without rehearsal. Explicit knowledge decayed after 7 days, whereas implicit knowledge was retained. These data were modeled according to the assumptions involved in the single-system model suggested by Shanks, Wilkinson, and Channon (2003) . The best fit for the model was obtained by modifying the parameters related to (a) the common knowledge-strength variable for implicit and explicit knowledge, and (b) reliability of the explicit test. We interpret these dissociations as a boundary condition for single-system models that assume constant random noise to explain dissociations in the forgetting patterns of implicit and explicit sequential knowledge.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 551-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Whong ◽  
Kook-Hee Gil ◽  
Heather Marsden

This article reviews studies in second language classroom research from a cross-theoretic perspective, arguing that the classroom holds the potential for bringing together researchers from opposing theoretical orientations. It shows how generative and general cognitive approaches share a view of language that implicates both implicit and explicit knowledge, and that holds a bias towards implicit knowledge. Arguing that it is implicit knowledge that should be the object of research, it proposes that classroom research would benefit from incorporating insights from a generative understanding of language. Specifically, there is a need for a more nuanced view of the complexity of language in terms of linguistic domain, and the interaction between those domains. Generative second language acquisition research that shows developmental differences in terms of both linguistic domain and interface is reviewed. The core argument is a call for more attention to the ‘what’ of language development in classroom research and, by implication, teaching practice. As such, the language classroom is seen to offer potential for research that goes beyond paradigm to address both the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of language development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Madan ◽  
Anthony Singhal

Learning to play a musical instrument involves mapping visual + auditory cues to motor movements and anticipating transitions. Inspired by the serial reaction time task and artificial grammar learning, we investigated explicit and implicit knowledge of statistical learning in a sensorimotor task. Using a between-subjects design with four groups, one group of participants were provided with visual cues and followed along by tapping the corresponding fingertip to their thumb, while using a computer glove. Another group additionally received accompanying auditory tones; the final two groups received sensory (visual or visual + auditory) cues but did not provide a motor response—all together following a 2 × 2 design. Implicit knowledge was measured by response time, whereas explicit knowledge was assessed using probe tests. Findings indicate that explicit knowledge was best with only the single modality, but implicit knowledge was best when all three modalities were involved.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Barth ◽  
Christoph Stahl ◽  
Hilde Haider

In implicit sequence learning, a process-dissociation (PD) approach has been proposed to dissociate implicit and explicit learning processes. Applied to the popular generation task, participants perform two different task versions: inclusion instructions require generating the transitions that form the learned sequence; exclusion instructions require generating transitions other than those of the learned sequence. Whereas accurate performance under inclusion may be based on either implicit or explicit knowledge, avoiding to generate learned transitions requires controllable explicit sequence knowledge. The PD approach yields separate estimates of explicit and implicit knowledge that are derived from the same task; it therefore avoids many problems of previous measurement approaches. However, the PD approach rests on the critical assumption that the implicit and explicit processes are invariant across inclusion and exclusion conditions. We tested whether the invariance assumptions hold for the PD generation task. Across three studies using first-order as well as second-order regularities, invariance of the controlled process was found to be violated. In particular, despite extensive amounts of practice, explicit knowledge was not exhaustively expressed in the exclusion condition. We discuss the implications of these findings for the use of process-dissociation in assessing implicit knowledge.


2019 ◽  
pp. 89-129
Author(s):  
Eli Alshanetsky

On the proposed solution to the puzzle, we recognize the correct formulations of our thoughts by relying on our implicit knowledge of what we are thinking. After discussing an analogous puzzle in the case of basic perceptual classification and constructing a model of implicit knowledge for the simpler case of color recognition, the chapter extends the model to the trickier case of thought. On this model, our implicit knowledge of an item consists in its stored signature—the invariant aspect of experience that its instances share. On the proposed solution, the process that mediates between implicit and explicit knowledge is not itself wholly sub-personal. Instead, it is best understood as straddling the personal/sub-personal divide. A deeper source of the puzzle that emerges from this chapter’s discussion of our involvement in articulation lies in the conflation between two types of freedom (or control) that we may have over a response.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-382
Author(s):  
Ryo Maie ◽  
Robert M. DeKeyser

AbstractThis study is the first to compare objective and subjective measures of explicit and implicit knowledge under learning from incidental exposure. An experiment was conducted, during which L1 English speakers were trained on a semiartificial language, Japlish. A measure of explicit knowledge and a recently proposed measure of implicit knowledge (i.e., an untimed auditory grammaticality judgment and a word-monitoring task) were applied to gauge the two types of knowledge at two testing sessions, and their results were compared with those of subjective measures of awareness. Results revealed clear discrepancies between the two measurement approaches in terms of their sensitivity. In particular, while the subjective measures varied in identifying explicit and implicit knowledge of various Japlish constructions, the objective measures indicated that most of the knowledge was explicit, and development of implicit knowledge (measured by the word-monitoring task) was minimal, only manifested in detecting a case-missing violation at the delayed posttest. The results are discussed with reference to the current literature on explicit and implicit learning and knowledge, and it is concluded that the criterion of (un)awareness might not be by itself sufficient to provide a full account of L2 knowledge developed under incidental conditions.


1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 790-801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Perner ◽  
Zoltan Dienes

In this response, we start from first principles, building up our theory to show more precisely what assumptions we do and do not make about the representational nature of implicit and explicit knowledge (in contrast to the target article, where we started our exposition with a description of a fully fledged representational theory of knowledge (RTK). Along the way, we indicate how our analysis does not rely on linguistic representations but it implies that implicit knowledge is causally efficacious; we discuss the relationship between property structure implicitness and conceptual and nonconceptual content; then we consider the factual, fictional, and functional uses of representations and how we go from there to consciousness. Having shown how the basic theory deals with foundational criticisms, we indicate how the theory can elucidate issues that commentators raised in the particular application areas of explicitation, voluntary control, visual perception, memory, development (with discussion on infancy, theory of mind [TOM] and executive control, gestures), and finally models of learning.


AILA Review ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 7-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Roehr

SLA researchers agree that explicit knowledge and learning play an important role in adult L2 development. In the field of cognitive linguistics, it has been proposed that implicit and explicit knowledge differ in terms of their internal category structure and the processing mechanisms that operate on their representation in the human mind. It has been hypothesized that linguistic constructions which are captured easily by metalinguistic descriptions can be learned successfully through explicit processes, resulting in accurate use. However, increased accuracy of use arising from greater reliance on explicit processing may lead to decreased fluency. Taking these hypotheses as a starting point, I present a case study of an adult L2 learner whose development of oral proficiency was tracked over 17 months. Findings indicate that explicit knowledge and learning have benefits as well as limitations. Use of metalinguistic tools was associated with increased accuracy; moreover, there was no obvious trade-off between accuracy and fluency. At the same time, resource-intensive explicit processing may impose too great a cognitive load in certain circumstances, apparently resulting in implicit processes taking over. I conclude that explicit and implicit knowledge and learning should be considered together in order to gain a full understanding of L2 development.


1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 735-808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltan Dienes ◽  
Josef Perner

The implicit-explicit distinction is applied to knowledge representations. Knowledge is taken to be an attitude towards a proposition which is true. The proposition itself predicates a property to some entity. A number of ways in which knowledge can be implicit or explicit emerge. If a higher aspect is known explicitly then each lower one must also be known explicitly. This partial hierarchy reduces the number of ways in which knowledge can be explicit. In the most important type of implicit knowledge, representations merely reflect the property of objects or events without predicating them of any particular entity. The clearest cases of explicit knowledge of a fact are representations of one's own attitude of knowing that fact. These distinctions are discussed in their relationship to similar distinctions such as procedural-declarative, conscious-unconscious, verbalizable-nonverbalizable, direct-indirect tests, and automatic-voluntary control. This is followed by an outline of how these distinctions can be used to integrate and relate the often divergent uses of the implicit-explicit distinction in different research areas. We illustrate this for visual perception, memory, cognitive development, and artificial grammar learning.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith S. Taber

This article discusses the nature of implicit knowledge, something which is considered to be highly influential in learning. The notion of implicit knowledge is important in conceptualising studies exploring student thinking and learning in chemistry, and in considering how the results of such studies should be interpreted to inform teaching. Research on cognition suggests that a good deal of the knowledge that people call upon in interpreting their world and making decisions is not accessible to conscious introspection. This has consequences in chemistry education research as individuals are not able to directly report implicit knowledge – so it can only be elicited indirectly. A corollary is that the results of many research studies reporting student conceptions in chemistry need to be understood as reflecting – at least in part – cognition drawing upon implicit knowledge. The distinction between explicit and implicit knowledge is an important one in understanding chemistry learning given that implicit knowledge operates automatically in cognition without deliberation. This suggests that strategies designed to counter students' alternative conceptions may need to be quite different when such ideas derive from the operation of implicit knowledge rather than students' explicit knowledge. The importance of implicit knowledge elements sometimes labelled as p-prims has been widely recognised in physics education research, and it is argued here that research into student thinking and learning in chemistry needs to take more account of the distinction between explicit and implicit knowledge elements if it is to better inform teaching. Research is needed to understand the repertoire and action of implicit knowledge elements active in chemistry learning. This will then facilitate the design of studies to test out teaching approaches that can recruit the most suitable implicit knowledge elements to support learning of canonical chemical ideas.


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