Implicit and explicit motor sequence learning in children born very preterm

Unraveling the complex interplay between statistical learning and working memory in Chinese children with and without dyslexia across different ages

The relation between statistical learning and working memory in children with developmental dyslexia (DD) remains unclear. This study employed a distributional and a conditional statistical learning experiment and a working memory task to examine this relation in 651 Chinese 6- to 12-year-olds with and without DD (NDD = 199, 101 females; NwoDD = 452, 227 females; participated 2014-2019). Results showed working memory positively associated with recognizing high-predictable and familiar items in both groups, but negatively associated with recognizing unfamiliar items in the DD group only. These findings uncovered the complex interplay between statistical learning and working memory, demonstrating how different working memory abilities in children with and without DD relate to various statistical learning mechanisms at the item level.

Implicit motor learning in primary school children: A systematic review

The aim of this study was to assess the current state of evidence and methodological quality of studies on implicit and explicit motor learning in both typically developing children and children with developmental disorders. A systematic literature review was conducted on the experimental literature published up to April 2020. A total of 25 studies were included. Studies were evaluated on methodological quality, paradigm used, and level of evidence. The results showed that implicit paradigms are as effective as explicit paradigms in both groups of children. Studies are predominantly experimental in nature involving mostly upper limb aiming tasks. The few studies that were performed outside the lab (n = 5) suggest superior efficacy of the implicit paradigm. Methodological quality varied between studies and was not always of sufficient standard to allow conclusions. In particular, manipulation checks were only performed in 13 studies (52% of all studies), limiting conclusions. Further progress can be made by focussing on improving methodological quality through retention testing by the inclusion of a control group, by the inclusion of a manipulation check, and via assessment of relevant co-variables, such as working memory, age, and motor competence.

Implicit Learning Abilities in Adolescents Born Very Preterm

Very preterm birth is associated with neurodevelopmental impairments and outcomes have not improved over the last decades. Insight in learning processes is important for the development of effective interventions. Implicit learning is of particular interest because of its independence from working memory processes that are affected by preterm birth. This study examined implicit learning abilities in 49 very preterm and 61 full-term 13-year-old adolescents. The degree of implicit learning was not different between groups. This indicates intact implicit learning abilities in adolescents born very preterm. Implicit learning strategies may be beneficial for skill learning in very preterm born children.

Explicit and implicit motor sequence learning in children and adults; the role of age and visual working memory

This study investigated explicit and implicit motor learning, and the influence of visual working memory (VWM) and age. Sixty children and 28 adults learned a nine-button sequence task explicitly and implicitly. Performance in explicit and implicit learning improved with age. Learning curves were similar across ages for implicit learning. In explicit learning, learning curves differed across ages: younger children started slower, but their learning rate was higher compared to older children. Learning curves were similar across VWM scores, but performance in explicit learning was positively influenced by VWM scores. Further research and implications for education and rehabilitation are discussed.