Statistical learning for non-social and socially-meaningful stimuli in individuals with high and low levels of autistic traits

Li, Xiujun; Bai, Xueping; Conway, Christopher M.; Shi, Wendian; Wang, Xin

doi:10.1007/s12144-022-02703-0

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 66 publications

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“…In a direct comparison, Norman and Price ( 2012 ) found less learning of an artificial grammar that structured sequences of body postures compared to the same grammar when it structured letter sequences (53% vs 58% classification accuracy). Further evidence comes the related field of statistical language learning, which is often assumed to occur, partially, implicitly: Li et al ( 2022 ) have found that young adults with a high level of autistic traits are able to extract statistical regularities from non-social auditory input (pure tones), but not from socially relevant auditory input (Chinese disyllables), bringing further support for the stimulus-dependent operation of implicit/statistical learning. In sum, there is robust evidence that the surface stimuli influence the amount of learning in typical implicit learning tasks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implicit and explicit learning of socio-emotional information in a dynamic interaction with a virtual avatar

Costea

Jurchiș

Visu‐Petra

et al. 2022

Psychological Research

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Implicit learning (IL) deals with the non-conscious acquisition of structural regularities from the environment. IL is often deemed essential for acquiring regularities followed by social stimuli (e.g., other persons’ behavior), hence is hypothesized to play a role in typical social functioning. However, our understanding of how this process might operate in social contexts is limited for two main reasons. First, while IL is highly sensitive to the characteristics of the surface stimuli upon which it operates, most IL studies have used surface stimuli with limited social validity (e.g., letters, symbols, etc.). Second, while the social environment is dynamic (i.e., our behaviors and reactions influence those of our social partners and vice-versa), the bulk of IL research employed noninteractive paradigms. Using a novel task, we examine whether IL is involved in the acquisition of regularities from a dynamic interaction with a realistic real-life-like agent. Participants (N = 115) interacted with a cinematic avatar that displayed different facial expressions. Their task was to regulate the avatar’s expression to a specified level. Unbeknownst to them, an equation mediated the relationship between their responses and the avatar’s expressions. Learning occurred in the task, as participants gradually increased their ability to bring the avatar in the target state. Subjective measures of awareness revealed that participants acquired both implicit and explicit knowledge from the task. This is the first study to show that IL operates in interactive situations upon socially relevant surface stimuli, facilitating future investigations of the role that IL plays in (a)typical social functioning.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%