Selective attention modulates implicit learning

The effect of selective attention on implicit learning was tested in four e xperiments using the "contextual cueing" paradigm (Chun & Jiang, 1998, 1999 ). Observers performed visual search through items presented in an attended colour (e.g., red) and an ignored colour (e.g., green). When the spatial c onfiguration of items in the attended colour was invariant and was consiste ntly paired with a target location, visual search was facilitated, showing contextual cueing (Experiments 1, 3, and 4). In contrast, repeating and pai ring the configuration of the ignored items with the target location result ed in no contextual cueing (Experiments 2 and 4). We conclude that implicit learning is robust only when relevant, predictive information is selective ly attended.