The literature on implicit learning in persons with mental retardation is scarce and contradictory with respect to the relationship between degree of intellectual disability and impact of implicit-learning processes on performance. We examined children and adolescents with mild or moderate mental retardation and typically developing children matched on MA with regard to their implicit learning. Individuals with mental retardation modified their behavior after an implicit training procedure in a way similar to MA- or CA-matched controls. The impact of implicit learning did not vary as a function of IQ or age. However, some differences appeared between groups in their explicit remembering of the training conditions. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
This paper reports a study investigating the degree of dissociation between performance shown by children with or without Down's syndrome (DS), matched on non‐verbal MA‐level, following an implicit or explicit learning procedure. Task‐specific factors were tightly controlled using the same task for both modes of learning. The implicit learning task was based on the manipulation of a graphic production principle. Our procedure trained participants to reverse the principle. In the explicit task, participants had to learn the two rules that account for this reversed principle. Whether they were trained implicitly or explicitly, participants then performed the same test in which the impact of their training was assessed.
Children with DS performed as well as controls in the implicit learning condition. They benefited less from the explicit learning condition than controls. They appeared to be impaired in the ability to recollect explicit information about the implicit training situation in comparison with controls. These results are discussed in the light of the current literature on the implicit and explicit modes of learning, and hypotheses are formulated about specific information processes that may be impaired in individuals with DS.
Résumé :
Cette étude examine si l'apprentissage implicite d'un nouveau comportement graphique résiste à l'effet du temps chez les enfants et adolescents avec retard mental (RM), comparativement aux enfants tout-venant. Des enfants et adolescents avec RM léger et moyen, âgés de 7 à 16 ans, ont été soumis à un apprentissage implicite portant sur leur habileté à tracer des cercles. La modification comportementale induite par la session d'apprentissage implicite perdure pendant une heure, dans des proportions similaires chez les sujets avec et sans RM (appariés sur l'âge mental ou réel). Les résultats montrent également que l'effet de l'apprentissage implicite différé est indépendant du degré de RM, de l'âge et de l'étiologie. Le maintien dans le temps des effets de l'apprentissage implicite est discuté par rapport à sa stabilité sur l'intervalle de rétention, puis en référence aux postulats de Reber concernant la robustesse de l'apprentissage implicite.
Mots clés : apprentissage implicite, retard mental, développement.
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