The interaction of implicit and explicit knowledge in artificial grammar learning

Abstract

The present study is dedicated to investigation of the interaction of conscious and unconscious processes in artificial grammar learning. The basic issue of the study is how the conflict between two implicitly learned stimuli regularities influences their classification. The results of the experiment suggest that subjects implicitly learned not only the rules of artificial grammar but also the hidden hint (in the form of slightly sparse font). In case of contradiction between the rules of grammar and the hidden hint subjects switched their decision making strategy to an analytical one being unaware of this contradiction. This manifested in the change of the decision making criterion, the decrease of 'yes' response rate and the heuristics used by the subjects. It is concluded that stimuli provoking conflict between implicitly acquired knowledge enhance conscious control over task performance. Possible implications for implicit learning theories are discussed.