What is learned during automatization? II. Obligatory encoding of spatial location

Six experiments addressed the encoding of location information during autom atization, to test a critical prediction of the instance theory of automati city (G. D. Logan, 1988). Subjects searched 1- or 2-word displays for membe rs of a target category. Specific targets appeared in the same locations co nsistently throughout training, and then location changed at transfer. Sens itivity to changes in location were assessed with implicit and explicit mem ory tests. In both tests, sensitivity depended on the number of locations t he words could occupy (2 vs. 16). Sensitivity varied with the number of wor ds presented (1 vs. 2) in the implicit test, but not in the explicit test. The results suggest that subjects encoded the locations of the words during automatization, which confirms the predictions of the instance theory.