A dual process account of digit invariance learning

S.W. Kelly; K. Wilkin

doi:10.1080/17470210500303839

A dual process account of digit invariance learning

S.W. Kelly, K. Wilkin

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

Performance in the McGeorge and Burton (1990) digit invariance task was originally thought to be mediated by unconscious abstraction of a "rule" that identified the invariant feature across all study items. Subsequent explanations have suggested explicit strategy use or similarity-to-exemplar matching rather than abstraction. This paper presents data that suggest that both similarity and abstraction can be used under different task demands. Delay between study and test afforded abstraction of the invariant knowledge whereas reducing the pool of study exemplars enhanced responding based on specific similarity. These results parallel effects found in the categorization literature. Rule abstraction in this sense may be due to statistical learning of feature frequency rather than abstraction of a central tendency or a complex/conceptual rule. Categorizing responses into subjective memory states (remember/know/guess) demonstrates that neither the similarity matching nor the abstraction mechanism uses information from episodic memory. Confidence measures show that participants are more confident of responses when the prototypical representation is used but not specific similarity. Taken together, these data suggest that abstracted knowledge is not held consciously but that participants have meta-awareness of when they are using the abstracted representation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1664-1680
Number of pages	16
Journal	Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Volume	59
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/17470210500303839
Publication status	Published - 2006

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Episodic Memory

Learning

Unconscious (Psychology)

Keywords

digit invariance learning
social psychology
educational psychology
abstraction

Cite this

Kelly, S. W., & Wilkin, K. (2006). A dual process account of digit invariance learning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59(9), 1664-1680. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470210500303839

Kelly, S.W. ; Wilkin, K. / A dual process account of digit invariance learning. In: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 2006 ; Vol. 59, No. 9. pp. 1664-1680.

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Kelly, SW & Wilkin, K 2006, 'A dual process account of digit invariance learning', Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 59, no. 9, pp. 1664-1680. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470210500303839

A dual process account of digit invariance learning. / Kelly, S.W.; Wilkin, K.

In: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Vol. 59, No. 9, 2006, p. 1664-1680.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

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