ABSTRACT
El objetivo del presente artículo es describir y analizar las modificaciones al paradigma de Gramáticas artificiales de Reber, que permiten su aplicación en niños a partir de la inclusión de juegos interactivos en soporte informático en dos formatos de presentación: alfabético y figurativo. Se trabajó con una muestra de 50 niños, divididos en dos grupos (tercero y quintoaño) de enseñanza general básica de una escuela estatal de Mar del Plata, Argentina. Las puntuaciones obtenidas en ambas pruebas de aprendizaje implícito mostraron ser significativascon respecto a lo esperado por azar. Las diferencias de las medias (para muestras relacionadas) de los resultados de ambas pruebas no fueron significativas. Las modificaciones sugeridas implican un aporte para evaluar el Aprendizaje Implícito en niños con elementos estimularesy procedimentales basados en la retroalimentación que facilitan la adecuación de los niños ala lógica interna de las pruebas.
The aim of the present article is to describe and analyze some modifications to the ArtificialGrammars Learning Paradigm that makes it adaptable to children by using interactive computer games presented in two formats: Alphabetical and Figurative. We worked with a sample of 50 children of third and fifth year of Basic General Education (EGB) from a Provincial School of Mar del Plata, Argentina. The punctuations obtained in both tests of Implicit Learning weresignificant with regard to what was expected by chance. The means comparison (pair-samples) shows that the differences between both tests were not significant. The suggested modifications imply a contribution to the evaluation of Implicit Learning in children with new procedural andvisual elements, based on the feedback.
Subject(s)
Child , Education/methods , Gambling , LearningABSTRACT
El objetivo del presente artículo es contribuir a la integración teórica entre dos perspectivas de amplia difusión y desarrollo actual: las teorías sobre el aprendizaje implícito (AI) y el programa de investigación conocido como Psicología Evolucionista (PE). Se propone la existencia de una base teórica común entre el AI y la PE que incluye: una perspectiva adaptacionista, que sostiene que las estructuras y mecanismos, procesos y conductas necesitan ser integrados dentro de un marco evolucionista y evaluados en términos de los roles que cada uno juega en las especies que los poseen; un innatismo moderado, que admite la existencia de una estructura considerable no dependiente del ambiente y por último, un acuerdo acerca del carácter adaptativo y no reductible de la conciencia. Por el contrario, se considera que no forma parte de los compromisos compartidos la tesis del carácter masivamente modular de la mente.
Throughout the years, a wide range of systems, trends, schools of thought and paradigms have fought to become researchers' and professionals' number one field of study. In Psychology, however, competing has only produced noticeable theoretic dispersion. The aim of the present article is to contribute to the discussion on theoretical integration by analyzing conceptual convergences between two widely circulating perspectives that are also under current development: the theories of implicit learning (IL) and a research program known as Evolutionary Psychology (EP). Both theories have gradually gained increasing importance among current theory trends. The theories of implicit learning, on one hand, have evolved based on empirical data and have revealed their presence in different experimental paradigms and among diverse populations. On the other hand, over the past few years EP has achieved considerable relevance in the theoretic framework, and has provided evolutionary explanations about a great deal of psychological phenomena. In the first two sections we briefly describe the general characteristics of IL and EP, in order to later analyze possible convergences between both perspectives. Firstly, we show the main conceptual principles of IL based on the analysis made by Frensch who classifies the main existing definitions according to different topics: the stimuli that are involved in the acquisition context, the phenomenological character of the process, the structure complexity of implicit learning content, the existing relationship between IL and neural mechanisms that are different from those in explicit learning, and the functional relationship between IL and attention mechanisms. In the second section, we identify three main theoretical aspects of Evolutionary Psychology: the adjustment assumption (according to which mental systems have emerged basically as features that contribute to an organism's successful reproduction); computational modularity hypothesis (the computation systems that make up the mind are relatively autonomous, they work on a specific purpose and solve very limited kinds of problems); and the innate assumption (that states that mental systems are innate and are determined by a genetic program structure). In the third section we describe some attempts at integrating research on implicit learning within an evolutionary framework. We describe Reber's assumptions on implicit learning which suggest that it is an earlier and more basic phylogenetic type of learning than explicit learning; furthermore we examine their relationship with the comprehensive model of Donald's cognitive evolution. In the fourth section, we particularly examine theoretical convergences between IL and EP theories. We believe that there is a common theoretic base between both perspectives. This theoretical base implies accepting a perspective based on an adaptation framework, supported by the fundamental principles of implicit processes and from an innate position. We believe that the massive modularity assumption does not form part of the conceptual commitments in implicit learning theories, even if it does not turn out to be incompatible with these. Finally, in the conclusions, we summarize our main findings, as well as discuss, from an epistemological framework, the advantages that the theoretical compatibilities hold. We examine different paths to reach a conceptual convergence: theoretical reduction, the unification of a set of minor theories which make up another theory that integrates and surpasses previous ones, as well as the integration of two theoretic bodies that were not connected up to that moment and that account to different theoretic authorities. Given that the potential convergence between Evolutionary psychology and implicit learning does not adjust to any of the aforementioned models, we consider it as a special case of integration.
ABSTRACT
En el estudio que se informa se exploraron las relaciones entre las siguientes mediciones cognitivas en niños de 8 a 12 años: (a) la capacidad de aprendizaje implícito (AI) de reglas abstractas, (b) la capacidad de aprendizaje explícito (AE) de reglas abstractas y (c) la medición psicométrica de inteligencia general (IG). Además, se analizó el efecto de tales relaciones con respecto al desarrollo cognitivo en diferentes edades cronológicas. Por último, se exploraron las diferencias en el formato de presentación utilizado en las pruebas comparando dos formatos: alfabético (CA) y figurativo (CF). Se trabajó con una muestra de 64 alumnos de tres escuelas provinciales de la ciudad de Mar del Plata (Prov. de Buenos Aires). La muestra estuvo conformada por 32 niños de tercer año y 32 niños de quinto año de Enseñanza General Básica (EGB). Se verificó la ocurrencia de una correlación positiva estadísticamente significativa entre el AE y la IG (en la CF). Al comparar los resultados obtenidos por los niños de quinto año con los niños de tercero, se obtuvieron diferencias significativas en las puntuaciones obtenidas en la prueba de AE. Los resultados observados sustentan la hipótesis de la independencia del AI de reglas abstractas con respecto a la edad de los sujetos y al CI, y la asociación del AE de reglas abstractas con respecto a la edad de los sujetos y al CI. Los resultados sugieren que el formato figurativo es más sencillo y accesible para la edad de los sujetos comprendidos en la muestra