Repetitions trigger illusory awareness in implicit statistical learning.
Saved in:
| Title: | Repetitions trigger illusory awareness in implicit statistical learning. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Jurchiş, Răzvan1 razvan.jurchis@ubbcluj.ro, Preda, Andrei1 |
| Source: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 3/10/2026, Vol. 123 Issue 10, p1-10. 19p. |
| Subjects: | Implicit learning, Self-consciousness (Awareness), Pattern perception, Subconsciousness, Consciousness, Bayesian analysis |
| Abstract: | The present study examined the accuracy of conscious representations that emerge from implicit statistical learning (ISL), a fundamental cognitive process through which we extract regularities in the environment. While ISL has several characteristics of unconscious processing (e.g., it operates unintentionally, produces subjectively unconscious knowledge), participants in ISL experiments always report some fragmentary conscious knowledge. Thus, the notion that ISL is truly an unconscious process has been the subject of perpetual debates. In the present study, we challenge the assumption that these conscious reports reflect direct access to the acquired knowledge. Combining previously collected and novel data, we tested the hypothesis that participants' conscious reports in ISL reflect a post hoc conscious model of their nonconscious knowledge. Across two experiments, participants were exposed to sequences of stimuli (letters, faces, or body movements in VR) generated by different regularities (artificial grammars and grammar-like bigram regularities). In a subsequent test, they decided whether novel strings were grammatical or not and reported their subjective awareness trial-by-trial. In both experiments, we found extreme Bayesian evidence that repetitions embedded in the testing strings made participants more aware of the knowledge driving their grammaticality decisions, above and beyond their influence on responses or accuracy. This suggests that, lacking access to the true basis of their decisions, participants attributed their responses to the most salient feature available: the repetitions. Thus, we find evidence that our conscious experience can misrepresent not only the external world but also our own unconsciously learned representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is the property of National Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Engineering Source |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
|---|---|
| Header | DbId: egs DbLabel: Engineering Source An: 192507645 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
| IllustrationInfo | |
| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Repetitions trigger illusory awareness in implicit statistical learning. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jurchiş%2C+Răzvan%22">Jurchiş, Răzvan</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> razvan.jurchis@ubbcluj.ro</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Preda%2C+Andrei%22">Preda, Andrei</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Proceedings+of+the+National+Academy+of+Sciences+of+the+United+States+of+America%22">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</searchLink>. 3/10/2026, Vol. 123 Issue 10, p1-10. 19p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Implicit+learning%22">Implicit learning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self-consciousness+%28Awareness%29%22">Self-consciousness (Awareness)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pattern+perception%22">Pattern perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Subconsciousness%22">Subconsciousness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Consciousness%22">Consciousness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Bayesian+analysis%22">Bayesian analysis</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The present study examined the accuracy of conscious representations that emerge from implicit statistical learning (ISL), a fundamental cognitive process through which we extract regularities in the environment. While ISL has several characteristics of unconscious processing (e.g., it operates unintentionally, produces subjectively unconscious knowledge), participants in ISL experiments always report some fragmentary conscious knowledge. Thus, the notion that ISL is truly an unconscious process has been the subject of perpetual debates. In the present study, we challenge the assumption that these conscious reports reflect direct access to the acquired knowledge. Combining previously collected and novel data, we tested the hypothesis that participants' conscious reports in ISL reflect a post hoc conscious model of their nonconscious knowledge. Across two experiments, participants were exposed to sequences of stimuli (letters, faces, or body movements in VR) generated by different regularities (artificial grammars and grammar-like bigram regularities). In a subsequent test, they decided whether novel strings were grammatical or not and reported their subjective awareness trial-by-trial. In both experiments, we found extreme Bayesian evidence that repetitions embedded in the testing strings made participants more aware of the knowledge driving their grammaticality decisions, above and beyond their influence on responses or accuracy. This suggests that, lacking access to the true basis of their decisions, participants attributed their responses to the most salient feature available: the repetitions. Thus, we find evidence that our conscious experience can misrepresent not only the external world but also our own unconsciously learned representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is the property of National Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=egs&AN=192507645 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1073/pnas.2526432123 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 19 StartPage: 1 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Implicit learning Type: general – SubjectFull: Self-consciousness (Awareness) Type: general – SubjectFull: Pattern perception Type: general – SubjectFull: Subconsciousness Type: general – SubjectFull: Consciousness Type: general – SubjectFull: Bayesian analysis Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Repetitions trigger illusory awareness in implicit statistical learning. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Jurchiş, Răzvan – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Preda, Andrei IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 10 M: 03 Text: 3/10/2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00278424 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 123 – Type: issue Value: 10 Titles: – TitleFull: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
