How do we learn sequences? In some cases people may be aware of the rules that determine a sequence (eg traffic lights), in others not (eg as the current song on a CD ends, people may get a feeling as to what song will come next even though they can not list the order of songs on the CD). One way that sequence learning has been investigated in the laboratory has been by using the Serial Reaction Time task, in which a stimulus (eg a circle) can appear in a number of different locations, each of which is paired with a different response key which must be pressed. When the order of appearance locations follows a sequence, participants come to respond faster than when the order is random, suggesting that they learn the sequence. Using this task, we already have evidence that is consistent with the possibility that people can learn sequences in two different ways. We propose to examine this dual-process account of human sequence learning, stringently. We believe that this research will prove to be a valuable step towards developing a successful theoretical account of human sequence learning in particular, and learning and memory in general.

Reaction time experiments in the lab.