Can unconscious knowledge allow control in sequence learning?

• Published in: Consciousness and cognition Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 462 - 474
• Main Authors: Fu, Qiufang, Dienes, Zoltán, Fu, Xiaolan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01-03-2010; Elsevier; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Consciousness; Control; Form Perception; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Implicit learning; Intention; Judgment; Judgment knowledge; Knowledge; Learning; Learning. Memory; Memory; Models, Psychological; Probability; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Reward; Sequence learning; Serial Learning; Structural knowledge; Subjective measures; Task Performance and Analysis; The Process Dissociation Procedure; Unconscious (Psychology); The Process Dissociation Procedure; Structural knowledge; Control; Sequence learning; Subjective measures; Implicit learning; Judgment knowledge; Human; Process dissociation procedure; Memory; Cognition; Experimental study; Knowledge; Subjective evaluation; Acquisition process; Consciousness unconsciousness; Cognitive control; Judgment
• ISSN: 1053-8100; 1090-2376
• DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2009.10.001

This paper investigates the conscious status of both the knowledge that an item is legal (judgment knowledge) and the knowledge of why it is legal (structural knowledge) in sequence learning. We compared ability to control use of knowledge (Process Dissociation Procedure) with stated awareness of the knowledge (subjective measures) as measures of the conscious status of knowledge. Experiment 1 showed that when people could control use of judgment knowledge they were indeed conscious of having that knowledge according to their own statements. Yet Experiment 2 showed that people could exert such control over the use of judgment knowledge when claiming they had no structural knowledge: i.e. conscious judgment knowledge could be based on unconscious structural knowledge. Further implicit learning research should be clear over whether judgment or structural knowledge is claimed to be unconscious as the two dissociate in sequence learning.