Synergy Between Memory and Model-based Processing: Integration Facilitated by Animation

Synergy Between Memory and Model-based Processing: Integration Facilitated by Animation Bill Sallas (sallas@LSU.edu) Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA Robert C. Mathews (psmath@LSU.edu) Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA Sean M. Lane (slane@LSU.edu) Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA Ron Sun (rsun@RPI.edu) Cognitive Science Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 12180 USA implicit learning tasks can be affected by a secondary task, and argue that this suggests learning in these tasks cannot be considered unconscious. Although this debate continues, Mathews and colleagues (1997; Mathews, et al., 1989) have suggested the focus of the debate has obscured two important issues. First, the term implicit has focused too much on the nonconscious aspects of this type of learning. Instead, they suggest implicit learning is similar to pattern recognition. The act of learning involves conscious awareness of a stimulus, although people are often unaware of the features they are encoding which will serve as the basis for later recognition. They propose using the terms memory-based (for implicit learning) and model-based (for explicit learning) processing. During exposure to exemplars, memory-based processing automatically abstracts patterns of covariance needed to respond appropriately to the task being performed. Model-based processing involves using an explicit representation of the task to guide action (e.g., following a recipe while cooking). A second issue concerns the lack of research regarding how these two processes interact. There is growing acknowledgement that it is difficult, if not impossible to isolate one process in a particular experimental task (e.g., Reber, 1993). Thus, both types of processes interact in both laboratory and real-world settings. For example, when a radiologist views an image looking for cancerous cells, memory-based processing may draw their attention to suspicious looking cells. At the same time, the physician may use model-based processing to consult a list of characteristics which cancerous cells must possess. The issue of interaction, and particularly situations where this interaction is facilitative (synergistic), is the focus of the following experiment. One of the first demonstrations of synergy in the artificial grammar paradigm was provided by Mathews, et al. (1989) who argued that memory-based and model-based processing Abstract Domangue, Mathews, Sun, Roussel, and Guidry (2004) trained Ss to generate valid exemplars from an artificial grammar using either memory-based or model-based processing. Their results showed that learning by memory- based processing resulted in fast but inaccurate performance, while model-based learning resulted in slow but accurate performance. Attempts to integrate both types of training did not result in fast and accurate string generation. Fast and accurate performance was achieved by Sun and Mathews (2005) using a computer animated display to train Ss. The current study used a 2x2x2 factorial design to determine why Ss who view an animated display of a diagram of the grammar during study perform well at test. The results suggest that the diagram informs Ss which letters or chunks of letters can appear in each position, as well as where they cannot appear. Animating the diagram focuses attention on the relevant portion of the complex display and leads to the best performance by creating a synergy between memory and model-based processing. Introduction There is considerable evidence that humans are capable of learning through two different types of processes (e.g., Mathews, et al., 1989; Reber, 1969). Explicit learning has been characterized as the conscious and effortful acquisition of rules (Reber, 1993). An example is learning to solve an algebra problem by following a series of steps. Implicit learning has been described as the non-conscious, automatic acquisition of information (Reber, 1969). For example, infants learning to produce novel utterances without an explicit understanding of the rules used to generate those utterances would involve implicit learning (Dienes, Broadbent, & Berry, 1991). The interpretation of evidence for these two types of processes has been questioned by some researchers. For instance, Shanks & Cannon (2002) have demonstrated that