Serial Reaction Time Learning in Preschool- and School-Age Children

Kathleen M Thomas; Charles A. Nelson

doi:10.1006/jecp.2000.2613

Serial Reaction Time Learning in Preschool- and School-Age Children

Kathleen M Thomas, Charles A. Nelson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

137 Scopus citations

Abstract

Visuomotor sequence learning was assessed in 4- to 10-year-old children using a serial reaction time (SRT) task with both random and sequenced trials. One-half of the children received exposure to the sequence prior to performing the reaction time (RT) task. In Experiment 1, 7- and 10-year-old children demonstrated sequence-specific decreases in RT. As in the adult SRT literature, participants with explicit awareness of the sequence at the end of the session showed larger sequence-specific reaction time decrements than those without explicit awareness. Contrary to expectation, preexposure to the sequence did not reliably predict the level of awareness attained. Results from Experiment 2 indicate that 4-year-olds also demonstrate significant sequence learning on a variant of the SRT task. This article provides preliminary data regarding developmental changes in sequential learning and the development and use of implicit and explicit knowledge. Age-related differences emerged primarily in explicit rather than implicit knowledge.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	364-387
Number of pages	24
Journal	Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Volume	79
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.2000.2613
State	Published - Aug 2001
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Portions of these data were presented previously at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development in April 1997, and reported in a doctoral dissertation by the first author (University of Minnesota) in July 1997. This research was funded in part by an Eva O. Miller Graduate School Fellowship from the University of Minnesota and an NIH Training Grant to the Center for Learning, Perception, and Cognition, University of Minnesota. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Cathy Johnson for help with data collection, Mervyn Bergman for response box design and engineering, and B. J. Casey, Michael Posner, Mary Jo Ward, and Sara Jane Webb and two reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.

Keywords

Children's learning
Explicit
Implicit
Motor skill learning
SRT
Serial reaction time

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10.1006/jecp.2000.2613

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abstract = "Visuomotor sequence learning was assessed in 4- to 10-year-old children using a serial reaction time (SRT) task with both random and sequenced trials. One-half of the children received exposure to the sequence prior to performing the reaction time (RT) task. In Experiment 1, 7- and 10-year-old children demonstrated sequence-specific decreases in RT. As in the adult SRT literature, participants with explicit awareness of the sequence at the end of the session showed larger sequence-specific reaction time decrements than those without explicit awareness. Contrary to expectation, preexposure to the sequence did not reliably predict the level of awareness attained. Results from Experiment 2 indicate that 4-year-olds also demonstrate significant sequence learning on a variant of the SRT task. This article provides preliminary data regarding developmental changes in sequential learning and the development and use of implicit and explicit knowledge. Age-related differences emerged primarily in explicit rather than implicit knowledge.",

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note = "Funding Information: Portions of these data were presented previously at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development in April 1997, and reported in a doctoral dissertation by the first author (University of Minnesota) in July 1997. This research was funded in part by an Eva O. Miller Graduate School Fellowship from the University of Minnesota and an NIH Training Grant to the Center for Learning, Perception, and Cognition, University of Minnesota. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Cathy Johnson for help with data collection, Mervyn Bergman for response box design and engineering, and B. J. Casey, Michael Posner, Mary Jo Ward, and Sara Jane Webb and two reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.",

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N2 - Visuomotor sequence learning was assessed in 4- to 10-year-old children using a serial reaction time (SRT) task with both random and sequenced trials. One-half of the children received exposure to the sequence prior to performing the reaction time (RT) task. In Experiment 1, 7- and 10-year-old children demonstrated sequence-specific decreases in RT. As in the adult SRT literature, participants with explicit awareness of the sequence at the end of the session showed larger sequence-specific reaction time decrements than those without explicit awareness. Contrary to expectation, preexposure to the sequence did not reliably predict the level of awareness attained. Results from Experiment 2 indicate that 4-year-olds also demonstrate significant sequence learning on a variant of the SRT task. This article provides preliminary data regarding developmental changes in sequential learning and the development and use of implicit and explicit knowledge. Age-related differences emerged primarily in explicit rather than implicit knowledge.

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Serial Reaction Time Learning in Preschool- and School-Age Children

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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