More Than Hitting the Correct Key Quickly

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Gaschler ◽  
Fang Zhao ◽  
Eva Röttger ◽  
Stefan Panzer ◽  
Hilde Haider
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Dominant Hand ◽  
Implicit Sequence Learning ◽  
Response Location ◽  
First Order ◽  
Additional Task ◽  
Serial Reaction ◽  
Order Sequence ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Target Locations

Abstract. Many studies have documented that multitasking reduces Response Time (RT) indicators of implicit sequence learning as well as the expression of acquired sequence knowledge in RT benefits. In these tasks it is only relevant that the correct key is hit quickly, not where it is hit. We explored how variability in response location is influenced by (a) breaking a repeating sequence of target locations, (b) multitasking demands in the current trial, and (c) presence of multitasking in the block. Participants performed a Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT) on a touchscreen while shutting down a beep tone by pressing the space bar with their non-dominant hand (throughout Experiment 1 and in the second half of Experiment 2). The first-order sequence of four response locations on the screen was broken by off-sequence deviants in 1/6th of the trials. Our results show a dissociation between RT and response location variability. While the effect of breaking the sequence on RT was larger under single- than under multitasking, breaking the sequence only led to an increase in response location variability under multitasking. Experiment 3 suggested that the impact of sequence knowledge on either aspect of performance in the SRTT is limited by interference from an additional task.

scholarly journals Higher-Order Associative Learning in Amnesia: Evidence from the Serial Reaction Time Task

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 522-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Curran
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Medial Temporal Lobe ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Order Information ◽  
Serial Reaction Time ◽  
Implicit Sequence Learning ◽  
Serial Reaction

Patients with anterograde amnesia are commonly believed to exhibit normal implicit learning. Research with the serial reaction time (SRT) task suggests that normal subjects can implicitly learn visuospatial sequences through a process that is sensitive to higher-order information that is more complex than pairwise associations between adjacent stimuli. The present research reexamined SRT learning in a group of amnesic patients with a design intended to specifically address the learning of higher-order information. Despite seemingly normal learning effects on average, the results suggest that amnesic patients do not learn higher-order information as well as control subjects. These results suggest that amnesic patients have an associative learning impairment, even when learning is implicit, and that the medial temporal lobe and/or diencephalic brain areas typically damaged in cases of amnesia normally contribute to implicit sequence learning.

A Dissociation of Implicit and Explicit Spatial Sequence Learning in a Group of Students With Learning Difficulties

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-316
Author(s):  
Jürgen Wilbert ◽  
Michael Grosche
Keyword(s):  
Learning Difficulties ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Explicit Learning ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Serial Reaction ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Implicit And Explicit Learning ◽  
The Impact

Traditionally, research on learning difficulties focuses on deficits in explicit learning processes. However, the impact of implicit (incidental, unconscious, and unaware) learning has sparsely been investigated. Hence, this study aims to dissociate implicit and explicit learning abilities in a group of 50 students with severe and persisting learning difficulties and compares their learning performance to non-impaired students. Individuals accomplished two different versions of a computerized serial reaction time task (SRTT) as a measure of implicit and explicit learning. Analyses revealed that (a) both learning processes can be dissociated by psychometric IQ; (b) students with learning difficulties have deficits in both implicit and explicit learning processes; and (c) it is possible to identify subgroups of adolescents with implicit and explicit learning difficulties. Theoretical as well as educational implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Targeted memory reactivation of a serial reaction time task in SWS, but not REM, preferentially benefits the non-dominant hand

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne C. M. Koopman ◽  
Mahmoud E. A. Abdellahi ◽  
Suliman Belal ◽  
Martyna Rakowska ◽  
Alun Metcalf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Sleep Stage ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Serial Reaction Time Task ◽  
Dominant Hand ◽  
Serial Reaction Time ◽  
Memory Reactivation ◽  
Time Task ◽  
Serial Reaction ◽  
Related Potentials

AbstractTargeted memory reactivation (TMR) is a technique by which sounds paired with learned information can be used to cue neural reactivation of that information during sleep. While TMR in slow-wave sleep (SWS) has been shown to strengthen procedural memories, it is unclear whether TMR in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, a state strongly associated with motor consolidation, provides equivalent benefit. Furthermore, it is unclear whether this technique influences dominant and non-dominant hands equally. We applied TMR of a two-handed serial reaction time task (SRTT) during either SWS or REM in thirty-two human right handed adults (sixteen female) to examine the impact of stimulation in each sleep stage on right (dominant) and left hands. While TMR in SWS led to strong benefits in reaction times and sequence-specific skill, equivalent cueing in REM led to no benefit at all, suggesting that reactivation in this sleep stage is not important for the SRTT. Event-related potentials elicited by TMR cues for left and right hand movements differed significantly in REM, but not SWS, showing that these cues are at least processed in REM. Interestingly, TMR benefits were apparent only in the non-dominant hand, potentially due to the weaker performance measured in this hand at the outset. Overall, these findings suggest that memory replay in SWS, but not REM, is important for consolidation of the SRTT, and TMR-cued consolidation is stronger in the non-dominant hand.Significance statementTargeted memory reactivation (TMR) in sleep leads to memory consolidation, but many aspects of this process remain to be understood. We used TMR of a bimanual serial reaction time task to show that behavioural benefit is only observed after stimulation in SWS, even though electrophysiology shows that the TMR cues are processed in REM. Importantly, TMR selectively benefitted the non-dominant hand. These findings suggest that TMR in REM does not benefit this serial reaction time task, and that TMR in SWS preferentially consolidates weaker memory traces relating to the non-dominant hand.

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