Transfer in Implicit Learning

Abstract

The article describes the research, the aim of which is to discover the effect of transfer of the implicit knowledge of artificial grammar to solving of sensory-motor tasks. The article considers the role of implicit knowledge in actual cognitive activity. Forty volunteers took part in the experiment. Participants of the experiment were implicitly taught the rule of artificial grammar. At the control phase, the assignment consisted of solving the sensory-motor problem – to react to the appearance of the green or yellow circle by pressing a certain key. In the experimental group, the grammatical line always appeared before the green-colored circle was presented, and the ungrammatical line appeared before the yellow-colored circle. In the control group the color of the circle didn’t depend on the grammaticality of the line. As a result, we established the considerable reduction in the reaction time in the experimental group. Thus, the transfer of the implicitly learned knowledge of artificial grammar leads to enhancement of efficiency of sensory-motor activity. The implicit rule of artificial grammar has acquired role of prime-stimulation.