Serieel of impliciet leren als verklaringsgrond van dyslectische problemen? De rol van aandachtsprocessen geanalyseerd met latente groeimodellen.

Purpose:
Studies on implicit sequence learning in dyslexia yielded mixed results. As some researchers reported impairments in implicit sequence learning in dyslexic children, we investigated whether this impairment was caused by the sequential character or rather by the implicit nature of the learning task. A specific problem in implicit learning can only be demonstrated by directly comparing performance on an implicit learning task when performance on an explicit learning task is equated between groups. Likewise, a direct comparison between groups on serial order learning performance when non-serial learning performance is controlled for is a sensitive method to detect a specific serial order learning deficit. Therefore, in this study implicit vs. explicit learning and serial order vs. non-serial learning was bifactorially manipulated.

Method:
In a 2x2 factorial within subjects design four tasks were administered in a group of dyslexic children and a matched control group: an implicit and an explicit sequence learning task and an implicit and an explicit contextual cueing task. As these tasks are very demanding on attention, attentional functioning was included as a control variable.

Results and conclusions:
Learning curves in all tasks were analyzed with latent growth curve modelling in order to compare performance between groups. Our results show that although dyslexic children generally underperform on the four tasks compared to the control group, they do not suffer from a specific problem in learning sequences per se, or from a specific problem in implicit learning. It is concluded that implicit sequence learning is not disturbed in dyslexia.