Interacting Effects of Instructions and Presentation Rate on Visual Statistical Learning

The statistical regularities of a sequence of visual shapes can be learned incidentally. Arciuli et al. (2014) recently argued that intentional instructions only improve learning at slow presentation rates as they favor the use of explicit strategies. The aim of the present study was (1) to test this assumption directly by investigating how instructions (incidental vs. intentional) and presentation rate (fast vs. slow) affect the acquisition of knowledge and (2) to examine how these factors influence the conscious vs. unconscious nature of the knowledge acquired. To this aim, we exposed participants to four triplets of shapes, presented sequentially in a pseudo-random order, and assessed their degree of learning in a subsequent completion task that integrated confidence judgments. Supporting Arciuli et al.’s (2014) claim, participant performance only benefited from intentional instructions at slow presentation rates. Moreover, informing participants beforehand about the existence of statistical regularities increased their explicit knowledge of the sequences, an effect that was not modulated by presentation speed. These results support that, although visual statistical learning can take place incidentally and, to some extent, outside conscious awareness, factors such as presentation rate and prior knowledge can boost learning of these regularities, presumably by favoring the acquisition of explicit knowledge.