What is learned in procedural learning? The case of alphabet arithmetic.
J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn
; 46(6): 1165-1177, 2020 Jun.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31599624
ABSTRACT
This research pursued a fine-grained analysis of the acquisition of a procedural skill. In two experiments (n = 29 and n = 27), adults practiced 12 alphabet arithmetic problems (e.g., C + 3 = C D E F) in two sessions with 20 practice blocks in each. If learning reflected speed up of a counting algorithm, response time (RT) speed up should be proportional to the number of counting steps (+ 1, + 2, or + 3). Instead, we found about 50% of RT gains occurred in the first six blocks of practice during which speed up was parallel for + 1, + 2, and + 3 problems. In both experiments, RT initially was a linear function of addend size, reflecting a letter counting strategy. Mean RT for + 3 problems was eventually equal to + 2 problems, which suggests that speed up reflected a gradual shift to associative fact retrieval. Trial by trial strategy self-reports in Experiment 2 revealed that the proportion of trials reported as memory retrieval as opposed to counting predicted 96% of the variance in RT as a function of addend size and practice block. As such, the results provided no evidence for speed up of a counting algorithm and indicated that skill acquisition for this task entailed speed up of task-general processes independent of addend size and rapid transition from counting to fact retrieval. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Prática Psicológica
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Resolução de Problemas
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Tempo de Reação
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Rememoração Mental
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article