Incidental covariation learning leading to strategy change

Gaschler, Robert; Schuck, Nicolas W.; Reverberi, Carlo; Frensch, Peter A.; Wenke, Dorit · 2019 · PLoS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210597

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Summary

This study investigates whether incidental learning of a covarying stimulus feature can trigger a spontaneous, voluntary change in task strategy, shifting participants from an instructed method to a learned alternative. The research addresses the theoretical debate between automatic, practice-driven strategy shifts and voluntary, awareness-driven changes. Specifically, it examines if participants will adopt a shortcut based on an unmentioned stimulus feature (color) that correlates with the instructed feature (position), and whether this strategy change generalizes across different stimulus combinations. The researchers conducted two experiments using a computerized task where participants responded to the spatial position of an array of colored squares within a reference frame. While participants were instructed to respond based on position, the dominant color of the squares covaried deterministically with the position (e.g., green squares always appeared in the upper-left corner). Experiment 1 manipulated the timing of "ambiguous" trials, where position was unclear, to test if the presence of such trials influenced learning. It also introduced "deviant" trials at the end, where color and position signaled conflicting responses, to assess the strength of the learned color association. Experiment 2 varied the frequency of specific color-position pairings to determine if the strategy change generalized across frequently and infrequently presented combinations. The results demonstrated that incidental covariation learning led to abrupt strategy changes in a subset of participants, who shifted from relying on position to using color for response selection. This shift was accompanied by explicit awareness of the regularity. In Experiment 1, the timing of ambiguous trials did not induce the strategy change, suggesting the measure was not reactive. When faced with deviant trials, participants who had adopted the color strategy showed biased responses toward the color cue, though the instructed position still exerted some influence. Experiment 2 revealed that the strategy change generalized across both frequent and infrequent color-position pairings, indicating that participants learned the general rule of the covariation rather than specific associations. The findings support the view that strategy change can be a voluntary, conscious decision rather than a mandatory consequence of automatic memory retrieval. The generalization across stimulus pairs and the abrupt onset of the new strategy suggest that participants actively reconfigured their task set to exploit the learned regularity. This implies that incidental learning can override instructional constraints when a more efficient strategy is discovered, highlighting the role of voluntary control and awareness in cognitive flexibility and skill acquisition.

Key finding

Incidental covariation learning can trigger spontaneous, voluntary strategy changes where participants switch from using an instructed stimulus feature to a learned, covarying feature, a process accompanied by awareness and generalization across stimulus combinations.

Methodology

lab_experiment

Sample size: 66

Provenance

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Topics

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• automaticity skill acquisition