THE EMERGENCE OF EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE DURING THE EARLY PHASE OF LEARNING IN SEQUENTIAL REACTION-TIME TASKS

Five experiments investigated the formation of explicit knowledge of a repeating sequence in a sequential reaction time task. Reliable expli cit knowledge was obtained even though various conditions prevented th e selective improvement of RTs (Exps. 1-4). This knowledge emerged ear ly during training. Participants were able to recognize segments of th e sequence (Exps. 3 and 4) or correctly assess the probabilities of tr ansition of the target between successive locations (Exp. 5) after onl y two blocks of training trials. These findings rule out an interpreta tion of sequence learning that posits that explicit knowledge emerges from implicit knowledge during the course of training. Although these findings are compatible with a framework centered around the notion of dissociation between implicit and explicit knowledge, they are also c onsonant with a questioning of the usefulness of the concept of implic it knowledge.