Simpson, I. 1, 2 , Jiménez-Fernández, G. 2 , Nigro, L. 2 & Defior, S. 2
1 Loyola University Andalusia, Spain
2 University of Granada, Spain
It has been suggested that implicit learning plays an important role in language acquisition. In two experiments we explored children's ability to implicitly learn graphotactic-like rules imbedded in 4-item strings using linguistic and non-linguistic stimuli. Regularities consisted of contextual (Item A always proceeds Item B) and positional (Item A always appears in position 1) constraints. Learning was assessed using two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) tests, which are typical in the literature, as well as via a novel, explicit generation task. Unlike the 2AFC test, the generation task allows the types of errors to be assessed. We argue this constitutes a more accurate measure of the functional knowledge acquired during the exposure phase. The 2AFC tests indicated that children were more sensitive to positional constraints at either end of the stimuli compared to constraints in the middle of the stimuli. The generation task indicated that learning of contextual rules was independent of the positional constraints with children able to generate correct responses for contextual rules equally well whether they were tested in their original (learned) position or in a novel position. Analysis of error types in the generation task provided further evidence of implicit learning beyond that available in the 2AFC tasks.