Implicit sequence learning with competing explicit cues

Previous research has shown that the expression of implicit sequence learni ng is eliminated in a choice reaction time task when an explicit cue allows participants to accurately predict the next stimulus (Cleeremans, 1997), b ut that two contingencies predicting the same outcome can be learned and ex pressed simultaneously when both of them remain implicit (Jimenez & Mendez, 1999). Two experiments tested the hypothesis that it is the deliberate use of explicit knowledge that produces the inhibitory effects over the expres sion of implicit sequence learning. However, the results of these experimen ts do not support this hypothesis, rather showing that implicit learning is acquired and expressed regardless of the influence of explicit knowledge. These results are interpreted as reinforcing the thesis about the automatic nature of both the acquisition and the expression of implicit sequence lea rning. The contradictory results reported by Cleeremans are attributed to a floor effect derived from the use of a special type of explicit cue.