Figure 2

Learning and Rewiring. (a) Statistical learning effect (SLE) in the Learning and Rewiring Phase. The magnitude of SLE indicates the difference of reaction times (RTs) given to frequent transitions (more probable stimuli) in contrast to infrequent transitions (less probable stimuli). Some of the transitions had constant frequency in the Learning Phase and Rewiring Phase (unchanged transitions, light grey bars), while other transitions swapped their frequency – previously infrequent transitions became frequent in the Rewiring Phase, and vice versa (changed transitions, dark grey bars – before the change, blue bars – after the change occurred ). Adapting to the changed statistical structure in the Rewiring Phase was shown to be more difficult than learning the contingencies in the first place in the Learning Phase. This was shown by SLEs being – on average – smaller for the changed transitions after the change in frequencies took place in the Rewiring Phase (blue bars) than before the change (dark grey bars). The Implicit-Explicit group did not show signs of such difficulty. (b) When a less probable stimulus came up, participants sometimes erroneously pressed the key corresponding to the most probable stimulus, termed as anticipatory errors. As two (partly) different sequences were taught, we differentiated between anticipations of Sequence A’s most probable stimuli, and that of Sequence B’s. Percentage of anticipatory errors of Sequence A (learned in the Learning Phase, grey bars) and Sequence B (learned in the Rewiring Phase, blue bars) over the two Phases, and chance level for anticipatory errors (dotted line) are shown. Each group showed adaptation to the current sequence, as anticipations for Sequence A were above chance level in the Learning Phase, while anticipations of Sequence B were above chance level in the Rewiring Phase. The Implicit-Implicit group additionaly showed above chance level anticipations of Sequence A during the Rewiring Phase, indicating the continuing influence of their knowledge gained in the Learning Phase. The solid lines connecting the bars indicate significant differences (p < 0.05). Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals (CIs).