page_title: Indirect tests of memory
section_title: Method/procedure
hierarchical_section_title: Indirect tests of memory / Artificial grammar learning (AGL) / Method/procedure
caption_attribution_description: English: An example of a artificial grammar used to create letter strings.
context_page_description: Indirect memory tests assess the retention of information without direct reference to the source of information. Participants are given tasks designed to elicit knowledge that was acquired incidentally or unconsciously and is evident when performance shows greater inclination towards items initially presented than new items. Performance on indirect tests may reflect contributions of implicit memory, the effects of priming, a preference to respond to previously experienced stimuli over novel stimuli. Types of indirect memory tests include the implicit association test, the lexical decision task, the word stem completion task, artificial grammar learning, word fragment completion, and the serial reaction time task.
context_section_description: Artificial grammar learning (AGL) is a task designed to test the process of implicit learning, which is the unconscious acquisition of knowledge and the use of this knowledge without consciously activating it. It involves the use of a "finite state language", which is a potentially infinite set of items made up of symbols following a finite set of rules, which constitutes a grammar. It was first introduced in 1967 by Arthur S. Reber.
  In the standard AGL paradigm based on Reber's work, a "language" that consists of a vocabulary of letters (for example, Z, K, F, G and B) and grammatical rules for putting these letters into sentences is constructed. The grammar consists of a number of states, where the addition of a letter causes the transition from one state to another, until the end state is achieved. In the learning phase of the AGL task, the experimental group is given a number of sentences created using the artificial grammar. The control group is given a number of random strings made up of the same letters, but not following the rules of the artificial grammar. Both groups are told that they are doing a memory task, and must memorize the letter strings and then reproduce them. In the test phase, both groups are told that each letter string was actually a sentence created using a complex set of grammatical rules. They are each given a number of new sentences, some grammatically correct and some not, and are asked to judge the grammaticality of each.
  The results show that most participants can consistently make accurate grammatical/non-grammatical assessments of the new sentences, even though few can correctly articulate the rules that they are using to make those assessments.
caption: An example of a finite state language. Each time an arrow is chosen, a letter is added, until the OUT arrow is chosen. An example of a grammatical string produced using this grammar is ZGGF. An example of an ungrammatical string is ZGFG.
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