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Implicit Learning, Bilingualism, and Dyslexia: Insights From a Study Assessing AGL With a Modified Simon Task.

ABSTRACT: This paper presents an experimental study investigating artificial grammar learning in monolingual and bilingual children, with and without dyslexia, using an original methodology. We administered a serial reaction time task, in the form of a modified Simon task, in which the sequence of the stimuli was manipulated according to the rules of a simple Lindenmayer grammar (more specifically, a Fibonacci grammar). By ensuring that the subjects focused on the correct response execution at the motor stage in presence of congruent or incongruent visual stimuli, we could meet the two fundamental criteria for implicit learning: the absence of an intention to learn and the lack of awareness at the level of resulting knowledge. The participants of our studies were four groups of 10-year-old children: 30 Italian monolingual typically developing children, 30 bilingual typically developing children with Italian L2, 24 Italian monolingual dyslexic children, and 24 bilingual dyslexic children with Italian L2. Participants were administered the modified Simon task developed according to the rules of the Fibonacci grammar and tested with respect to the implicit learning of three regularities: (i) a red is followed by a blue, (ii) a sequence of two blues is followed by a red, and (iii) a blue can be followed either by a red or by a blue. Results clearly support the hypothesis that learning took place, since participants of all groups became increasingly sensitive to the structure of the input, implicitly learning the sequence of the trials and thus appropriately predicting the occurrence of the relevant items, as manifested by faster reaction times in predictable trials. Moreover, group differences were found, with bilinguals being overall faster than monolinguals and dyslexics less accurate than controls. Finally, an advantage of bilingualism in dyslexia was found, with bilingual dyslexics performing consistently better than monolingual dyslexics and, in some conditions, at the level of the two control groups. These results are taken to suggest that bilingualism should be supported also among linguistically impaired individuals.

SUBMITTER: Vender M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6677018 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Implicit Learning, Bilingualism, and Dyslexia: Insights From a Study Assessing AGL With a Modified Simon Task.

Vender Maria M Krivochen Diego Gabriel DG Phillips Beth B Saddy Douglas D Delfitto Denis D

Frontiers in psychology 20190726

This paper presents an experimental study investigating artificial grammar learning in monolingual and bilingual children, with and without dyslexia, using an original methodology. We administered a serial reaction time task, in the form of a modified Simon task, in which the sequence of the stimuli was manipulated according to the rules of a simple Lindenmayer grammar (more specifically, a Fibonacci grammar). By ensuring that the subjects focused on the correct response execution at the motor s ...[more]

PMID: 31402882

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Project description:In this paper we probe the interaction between sequential and hierarchical learning by investigating implicit learning in a group of school-aged children. We administered a serial reaction time task, in the form of a modified Simon Task in which the stimuli were organised following the rules of two distinct artificial grammars, specifically Lindenmayer systems: the Fibonacci grammar (Fib) and the Skip grammar (a modification of the former). The choice of grammars is determined by the goal of this study, which is to investigate how sensitivity to structure emerges in the course of exposure to an input whose surface transitional properties (by hypothesis) bootstrap structure. The studies conducted to date have been mainly designed to investigate low-level superficial regularities, learnable in purely statistical terms, whereas hierarchical learning has not been effectively investigated yet. The possibility to directly pinpoint the interplay between sequential and hierarchical learning is instead at the core of our study: we presented children with two grammars, Fib and Skip, which share the same transitional regularities, thus providing identical opportunities for sequential learning, while crucially differing in their hierarchical structure. More particularly, there are specific points in the sequence (k-points), which, despite giving rise to the same transitional regularities in the two grammars, support hierarchical reconstruction in Fib but not in Skip. In our protocol, children were simply asked to perform a traditional Simon Task, and they were completely unaware of the real purposes of the task. Results indicate that sequential learning occurred in both grammars, as shown by the decrease in reaction times throughout the task, while differences were found in the sensitivity to k-points: these, we contend, play a role in hierarchical reconstruction in Fib, whereas they are devoid of structural significance in Skip. More particularly, we found that children were faster in correspondence to k-points in sequences produced by Fib, thus providing an entirely new kind of evidence for the hypothesis that implicit learning involves an early activation of strategies of hierarchical reconstruction, based on a straightforward interplay with the statistically-based computation of transitional regularities on the sequences of symbols.

Project description:Introduction The ability to resolve interference declines with age and is attributed to neurodegeneration and reduced cognitive function and mental alertness in older adults. Our previous study revealed that task-irrelevant but environmentally meaningful sounds improve performance on the modified Simon task in older adults. However, little is known about neural correlates of this sound facilitation effect. Methods Twenty right-handed older adults [mean age = 72 (SD = 4), 11 female] participated in the fMRI study. They performed the modified Simon task in which the arrows were presented either in the locations matching the arrow direction (congruent trials) or in the locations mismatching the arrow direction (incongruent trials). A total of 50% of all trials were accompanied by task-irrelevant but environmentally meaningful sounds. Results Participants were faster on the trials with concurrent sounds, independently of whether trials were congruent or incongruent. The sound effect was associated with activation in the distributed network of auditory, posterior parietal, frontal, and limbic brain regions. The magnitude of the behavioral facilitation effect due to sound was associated with the changes in activation of the bilateral auditory cortex, cuneal cortex, and occipital fusiform gyrus, precuneus, left superior parietal lobule (SPL) for No Sound vs. Sound trials. These changes were associated with the corresponding changes in reaction time (RT). Older adults with a recent history of falls showed greater activation in the left SPL than those without falls history. Conclusion Our findings are consistent with the dedifferentiation hypothesis of cognitive aging. The facilitatory effect of sound could be achieved through recruitment of excessive neural resources, which allows older adults to increase attention and mental alertness during task performance. Considering that the SPL is critical for integration of multisensory information, individuals with slower task responses and those with a history of falls may need to recruit this region more actively than individuals with faster responses and those without a fall history to overcome increased difficulty with interference resolution. Future studies should examine the relationship among activation in the SPL, the effect of sound, and falls history in the individuals who are at heightened risk of falls.

Project description:Background and objectiveClinical observations indicate that implicit procedural learning, a central component of physical and psychosocial rehabilitation, is impeded following spinal cord injury. In accordance, previous research has revealed a specific deficit in implicit sequence learning among individuals with paraplegia using a standard, manual version of the serial reaction time task. To extend these findings and shed light on the underlying sources of potential spinal cord injury-related deficits in sequence learning, we used an ocular activated serial reaction time task to compare sequence learning performance between individuals with tetraplegia and healthy controls.Participants and measuresTwelve participants with spinal cord injury in C5-T1 were compared to 12 matched control participants on measures derived from an ocular activated serial reaction time task. Depression and additional cognitive measures were assessed to explore the source and specificity of potential sequence learning deficits.ResultsLike controls, and in contrast with previous findings in paraplegia, the spinal cord injury group showed intact implicit sequence learning, evidenced by declining reaction times and improved anticipation over the first six blocks of the serial reaction time task, and an advantage for the initial learning sequence over a novel interference sequence.ConclusionsThe ocular activated serial reaction time task elicited a performance pattern similar to standard motor versions, such that participants with tetraplegia demonstrated unimpaired sequence learning. This suggests that previously reported implicit sequence learning deficits in spinal cord injury directly involved motor functioning rather than cognitive aspects of the task, and that the ocular activated sequence learning task could be a valid alternative for assessing implicit sequence learning in populations that cannot perform spinal-cord dependent motor tasks. Implications for post-spinal cord injury rehabilitation and adjustment are discussed.

Dataset Information

Implicit Learning, Bilingualism, and Dyslexia: Insights From a Study Assessing AGL With a Modified Simon Task.

Publications

Implicit Learning, Bilingualism, and Dyslexia: Insights From a Study Assessing AGL With a Modified Simon Task.

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