The role of chunking and awareness in serial learning: An investigation using the Hebb Digits task

The Hebb Digits task, an incidental serial learning procedure first introduced by Donald Hebb (1961), has been useful for elucidating the mechanisms by which sequential information is transferred from short-term to long-term memory. The work presented in this dissertation is an attempt to develop a perceptual processing account for how learning occurs in the Hebb Digits task. Chapter One reviews the scope of influence that the Hebb Digits task has had on researchers investigating memory processes including theoretical accounts of how learning occurs in the Hebb Digits task, the evidence for implicit learning in the Hebb Digits task, and the relationship of these ideas with the original theories of Hebb. Chapter Two presents findings in support of the perceptual processing account based on experiments demonstrating the dominance of perceptual chunking, compared to motor chunking, on Hebb Digits learning. Chapter Three presents the findings from an experiment testing whether the dominance of perceptual chunking in Hebb Digits learning is due to an increase in awareness for the incidental elements of the task. Although the results of Chapter Three failed to support the hypothesis that perceptual chunking increases awareness, the pattern of findings indicates that after awareness of sequence repetition is accounted for, there is no identifiable impact of chunking on Hebb Digits learning. Additionally, the results of a regression analysis reveal that Hebb Digits learning is mediated by awareness of sequence repetition via recall and verbal measures. Based on the findings in this dissertation, it is hoped that researchers will better understand the mechanisms influencing performance in this important task for probing the juncture at which information is transferred from a short-term trace to a long-term structure.