Abstract
The present study identified two aspects of complexity that have been manipulated in the implicit learning literature and investigated how they affect implicit and explicit learning of artificial grammars. Ten finite state grammars were used to vary complexity. The results indicated that dependency length is more relevant to the complexity of a structure than is the number of associations that have to be learned. Although implicit learning led to better performance on a grammaticality judgment test than did explicit learning, it was negatively affected by increasing complexity: Performance decreased as there was an increase in the number of previous letters that had to be taken into account to determine whether or not the next letter was a grammatical continuation. In particular, the results suggested that implicit learning of higher order dependencies is hampered by the presence of longer dependencies. Knowledge of first-order dependencies was acquired regardless of complexity and learning mode.
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18 June 2019
In the article ���Effects of Grammar Complexity on Artificial Grammar Learning��� by E. Van den Bos and F. Poletiek, published in Memory & Cognition, 2008, 36(6), 1122���1131, doi:10.3758/MC.36.6.1122, an error was made in the computation of topological entropy (TE).
18 June 2019
In the article ���Effects of Grammar Complexity on Artificial Grammar Learning��� by E. Van den Bos and F. Poletiek, published in Memory & Cognition, 2008, 36(6), 1122���1131, doi:10.3758/MC.36.6.1122, an error was made in the computation of topological entropy (TE).
18 June 2019
In the article ���Effects of Grammar Complexity on Artificial Grammar Learning��� by E. Van den Bos and F. Poletiek, published in Memory & Cognition, 2008, 36(6), 1122���1131, doi:10.3758/MC.36.6.1122, an error was made in the computation of topological entropy (TE).
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Nagata, H. (1977). The interaction between syntactic complexity and semantic reference in acquisition of a miniature artificial language. Japanese Psychological Research, 19, 90–96.
Newport, E. L. (1990). Maturational constraints on language learning. Cognitive Science, 14, 11–28.
Nissen, M. J., & Bullemer, P. (1987). Attentional requirements of learning: Evidence from performance measures. Cognitive Psychology, 19, 1–32.
Perruchet, P., & Vinter, A. (1998). Learning and development: The implicit knowledge assumption reconsidered. In M. A. Stadler & P. A. Frensch (Eds.), Handbook of implicit learning (pp. 495–531). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Pothos, E. M. (2007). Theories of artificial grammar learning. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 227–244.
Reber, A. S. (1967). Implicit learning of artificial grammars. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 6, 855–863.
Reber, A. S. (1976). Implicit learning of synthetic languages: The role of instructional set. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory, 2, 88–94.
Reber, A. S. (1989). Implicit learning and tacit knowledge. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 118, 219–235.
Reber, A. S. (1993). Implicit learning and tacit knowledge: An essay on the cognitive unconscious. London: Oxford University Press.
Reber, A. S., & Allen, R. (1978). Analogy and abstraction strategies in synthetic grammar learning: A functionalist interpretation. Cognition, 6, 189–221.
Reber, A. S., Kassin, S. M., Lewis, S., & Cantor, G. (1980). On the relationship between implicit and explicit modes in the learning of a complex rule structure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory, 6, 492–502.
Reed, J. [M.], & Johnson, P. [J.] (1994). Assessing implicit learning with indirect tests: Determining what is learned about sequence structure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 20, 585–594.
Reed, J. M., & Johnson, P. J. (1998). Implicit learning: Methodological issues and evidence of unique characteristics. In M. A. Stadler & P. A. Frensch (Eds.), Handbook of implicit learning (pp. 261–294). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Rohde, D. L. T., & Plaut, D. C. (1999). Language acquisition in the absence of explicit negative evidence: How important is starting small? Cognition, 72, 67–109.
Soetens, E., Melis, A., & Notebaert, W. (2004). Sequence learning and sequential effects. Psychological Research, 69, 124–137.
Stadler, M. A. (1992). Statistical structure and implicit serial learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 18, 318–327.
van den Bos, E., & Poletiek, F. H. (2008). Intentional artificial grammar learning: When does it work? European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 20, 793–806.
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While revising the manuscript, she was supported by a grant from the Niels Stensen Stichting.
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van den Bos, E., Poletiek, F.H. Effects of grammar complexity on artificial grammar learning. Memory & Cognition 36, 1122–1131 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.36.6.1122
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.36.6.1122