Express: Reliability of the Serial Reaction Time task: If at first you don't succeed, try try try again

Catia Margarida Oliveira; Emma Hayiou-Thomas; Lisa M Henderson

doi:10.1177/17470218241232347

Express: Reliability of the Serial Reaction Time task: If at first you don't succeed, try try try again

Catia Margarida Oliveira^*, Emma Hayiou-Thomas, Lisa M Henderson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Procedural memory is involved in the acquisition and control of skills and habits that underlie rule and procedural learning, including the acquisition of grammar and phonology. The Serial Reaction Time task (SRTT), commonly used to assess procedural learning, has been shown to have poor stability (test-retest reliability). We investigated factors that may affect the stability of the SRTT in adults. Experiment 1 examined whether the similarity of sequences learned in two sessions would impact stability: test-retest correlations were low regardless of sequence similarity (r < .31). Experiment 2 added a third session to examine whether individual differences in learning would stabilise with further training. There was a small (but nonsignificant) improvement in stability for later sessions (session 1-2: r = .42; session 2-3: r = .60). Stability of procedural learning on the SRTT remained suboptimal in all conditions, posing a serious obstacle to the use of this task as a sensitive predictor of individual differences and ultimately theoretical advance.

Original language	English
Number of pages	27
Journal	Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)
Early online date	4 Feb 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218241232347
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 4 Feb 2024

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

10.1177/17470218241232347Licence: CC BY

Reliability of the serial reaction time task: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again
© Experimental Psychology Society 2024
Final published version, 1.37 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{684281d29d68446cbde5bb36436233be,

title = "Express: Reliability of the Serial Reaction Time task: If at first you don't succeed, try try try again",

abstract = "Procedural memory is involved in the acquisition and control of skills and habits that underlie rule and procedural learning, including the acquisition of grammar and phonology. The Serial Reaction Time task (SRTT), commonly used to assess procedural learning, has been shown to have poor stability (test-retest reliability). We investigated factors that may affect the stability of the SRTT in adults. Experiment 1 examined whether the similarity of sequences learned in two sessions would impact stability: test-retest correlations were low regardless of sequence similarity (r < .31). Experiment 2 added a third session to examine whether individual differences in learning would stabilise with further training. There was a small (but nonsignificant) improvement in stability for later sessions (session 1-2: r = .42; session 2-3: r = .60). Stability of procedural learning on the SRTT remained suboptimal in all conditions, posing a serious obstacle to the use of this task as a sensitive predictor of individual differences and ultimately theoretical advance.",

author = "Oliveira, {Catia Margarida} and Emma Hayiou-Thomas and Henderson, {Lisa M}",

note = "{\textcopyright} Experimental Psychology Society 2024",

year = "2024",

month = feb,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1177/17470218241232347",

language = "English",

journal = "Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)",

issn = "1747-0218",

publisher = "Psychology Press",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Express

T2 - Reliability of the Serial Reaction Time task: If at first you don't succeed, try try try again

AU - Oliveira, Catia Margarida

AU - Hayiou-Thomas, Emma

AU - Henderson, Lisa M

PY - 2024/2/4

Y1 - 2024/2/4

N2 - Procedural memory is involved in the acquisition and control of skills and habits that underlie rule and procedural learning, including the acquisition of grammar and phonology. The Serial Reaction Time task (SRTT), commonly used to assess procedural learning, has been shown to have poor stability (test-retest reliability). We investigated factors that may affect the stability of the SRTT in adults. Experiment 1 examined whether the similarity of sequences learned in two sessions would impact stability: test-retest correlations were low regardless of sequence similarity (r < .31). Experiment 2 added a third session to examine whether individual differences in learning would stabilise with further training. There was a small (but nonsignificant) improvement in stability for later sessions (session 1-2: r = .42; session 2-3: r = .60). Stability of procedural learning on the SRTT remained suboptimal in all conditions, posing a serious obstacle to the use of this task as a sensitive predictor of individual differences and ultimately theoretical advance.

AB - Procedural memory is involved in the acquisition and control of skills and habits that underlie rule and procedural learning, including the acquisition of grammar and phonology. The Serial Reaction Time task (SRTT), commonly used to assess procedural learning, has been shown to have poor stability (test-retest reliability). We investigated factors that may affect the stability of the SRTT in adults. Experiment 1 examined whether the similarity of sequences learned in two sessions would impact stability: test-retest correlations were low regardless of sequence similarity (r < .31). Experiment 2 added a third session to examine whether individual differences in learning would stabilise with further training. There was a small (but nonsignificant) improvement in stability for later sessions (session 1-2: r = .42; session 2-3: r = .60). Stability of procedural learning on the SRTT remained suboptimal in all conditions, posing a serious obstacle to the use of this task as a sensitive predictor of individual differences and ultimately theoretical advance.

U2 - 10.1177/17470218241232347

DO - 10.1177/17470218241232347

M3 - Article

C2 - 38311604

SN - 1747-0218

JO - Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)

JF - Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)

ER -