Sleep is hypothesized to play a functional role in the consolidation of memory, with more robust findings for implicit, than explicit memory. Previous studies have observed improvements on an explicit motor task after a sleep period. We examined the role of massed practice and sleep on implicit and explicit learning within a motor task. Controlling for non-sleep factors (e.g. massed practice, c...

There is much recent interest in the question of whether people have available a single category learning system or a number of qualitatively different systems. Most proponents of multiple systems have hypothesized an explicit, rule-based system and some type of implicit system. Although there has been general agreement about the nature of the explicit system, there has been disagreement about ...

Self-paced learning (SPL) is a new methodology that simulates the learning principle of humans/animals to start learning easier aspects of a learning task, and then gradually take more complex examples into training. This new-coming learning regime has been empirically substantiated to be effective in various computer vision and pattern recognition tasks. Recently, it has been proved that the S...

Learning of supra-span sequences was assessed in a densely amnesic individual (SJ) who suffers from a substantial circumscribed bilateral lesion to the hippocampus. SJ's ability to lay down information originating from repetitive memory recall episodes was assessed using Hebb's supra-span procedure. After assessment of short-term memory span, 25 sequences of span +1 items were presented to SJ f...

A group of 20 patients who sustained closed-head injury (CHI) and a matched control group of 20 individuals were tested on the serial reaction time (SRT) task. Three different sequence-learning measures were generated from the task: two implicit and one explicit. The two implicit sequence-learning measures include: (1) the learning rate on the first five blocks of the repeated sequence, assumed...

The role of implicit learning in skill acquisition and the distinction between implicit and explicit learning have been widely recognized in recent years (see, e.g., Reber 1989, Stanley et al 1989, Willingham et al 1989, Anderson 1993), Although implicit learning has been actively investigated, the complex and multifaceted interaction between the implicit and the explicit and the importance of ...

Motor learning depends upon plasticity in neural networks involved in the planning and execution of movement. Physical practice (PP) is the primary means of motor learning, but it can be augmented with nonphysical forms of practice including motor imagery (MI)-the mental rehearsal of movement. It is unknown if MI alone, without prior PP of a movement, can produce robust learning. Here the autho...

The serial reaction time task (SRT) is used to assess implicit sequence learning. Neuroimaging studies implicate parietal involvement; however, the necessity of this area is unclear. We tested six unilateral right parietal patients and compared their performance to matched controls. Both groups showed similar levels of learning and explicit awareness. Two patients with the largest lesions exten...