Winne, P. H. and Nesbit, J. C. (2010). The Psychology of Academic Achievement

Winne, P. H. and Nesbit, J. C. (2010).  The Psychology of Academic Achievement.  Annual Review of Psychology, 61, pp. 653-678.  Retrieved on June 27, 2010 from http://arjournals.annualreviews.org.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100348


Introduction
Winne and Nesbit have developed a unified account (the why, how and under what circumstance) of success or failure in schools to put forward a platform for the improvement of educational practice.  The proposed model has its own limitations, as all models do.  The authors outline the two categories of interest:

1. the psychology of 'the way things are' (e.g. universal phenomenon among learners; subject areas; not everything is under the learners' control); and
2. the psychology of 'the way learners make things' (e.g. how learners recall information, and how long they spend in retrieving it; knowing that success and failure are opportunities for improvement).

The choices made and put into action create new information that feeds the way forward, shaping the individual learning environment.  As it is a limited capacity resource, working memory can hold only so much information.  The framing effect that the environment has on an individual is reflected in the constraints and opportunities that are perceived.  Information that is acquired is more effectively retained when restudying is delayed.


Cognitive factors
Cognitive load theory categorises 'the way things are'.  Progress in some areas of psychology has been hampered by lack of attention to "proximal psychological processes" (pg. 3).  Winne and Nesbit state that academic achievement is the result of self-regulation, and improvements are necessary to transform the constructs and paradigms guiding research.


The example of cognitive load theory
Cognitive load theory models examples of working memory.  Limited capacity in working memory creates a bottleneck in cognition and reduces the flow of information.  Cognitive load makes up the component parts of the total learning experience:

• intrinsic load is the level of difficulty experienced when first engaging in a task where the number of activities are indexed interactively against schema required to perform the task;
• the results that are formed from cognitive processing create schemata and enhance performance; and
• extrinsic processing is any unnecessary processing that can be eliminated.

As these three components are additive, their sum total cannot be more than working memory capacity.


Winne and Nesbit indicate that although cognitive load is generally accepted and liberally cited in research, it is '"typically disregarded" (pg. 5) outside learning science domains.  Observation reveals that individuals experience increased cognitive load as more difficult indicating that working memory overload is consciously experienced.  Segmenting tasks for sequential work or using external artefacts eases overload (e.g. notes, maps).  While the cost of adopting new learning tactics initially adds to the level of difficulty, it should be seen as a long term investment in self.


Metacognitive factors
Metacognition is a two-step process with critical features.  In the first stage, individuals process situation awareness consisting of monitoring knowledge and consequences to action.  The metacognitive account is individual perception which may differ from actual qualities and lead to standard setting for the individual (i.e. how an individual feels about what is thought of and the subsequent action taken).  The second feature is based on the differences between individual situation awareness and standards, and how the individual exerts control (i.e. adapts, changes course, exits).  Together the process regulates self-learning.  Identifiable metacognitive achievements can be classified as:

• being alert to changes in situation;
• the selection and implementation of standards;
• accuracy of perception;
• the selection and implementation of successful strategies;
• the motivation to act; and
• modifying or locating the environment that facilitates action.

Assimilation and application of standards is a practiced skill that requires accurate self-perception.  Simplistic misinterpretation (e.g. what is important in graded assignments) may lead to a detailed focus with an incorrect perspective (e.g. work may be judged using global standards, rather than using more specific targets).  Research shows that individuals are poor at learning and are overconfident.  Judgments shift from overconfidence to underconfidence when recall is ineffective. By engaging with the information individuals improve personal accuracy by recalling experience, not just by using working memory.


Metacognitive skills facilitate learning of tactics and compares pre-training and post-training performance.  In general, individuals do not optimise metacognitive skills, and schooling has not resolved the issue.  Investigations are ongoing.


Motivational factors
Motivation can be divided into two categories: factors that either direct or limit the choice to engage, and factors that affect the strength and focus of engagement.  Winne and Nesbit state that we are prone to motivation when driven by satisfaction or similar, and review literature on motivation in goal-oriented frameworks.


Achievement goals
Achievement goals play an instrumental role in orienting the individual to what is learned.  Issues researchers face lie in understanding whether achievement goals sustain individuals during task performance. Goals represent the standard an individual is aiming for by monitoring situation awareness, and are classified as the choice for action (behaviour).  This behaviour is typically observed in students: some individuals prefer to approach a task by gaining a deep and thorough comprehension of the subject, gaining substantial increase in expertise; while some others prefer to use the opportunity to prove competence.  These differing approaches to the same task indicate that individuals may exercise metacognitive control to choose the tactics that facilitate learning.


Interest

Interest, knowledge and knowledge structure increase achievement and interest potential.  The two main forms of interest have been categorised as individual interest and situational interest.  Individual interest predicts the category (e.g. an interest in science).  Situational interest creates the opportunity for the individual to interact (e.g. either with the person/feature/environment/task).  Individuals who receive feedback about task engagement and performance that is holistically representative of self-evaluation acquire a higher degree of interest in the task and method of engagement.  The self-concept of ability correlates positively with interest and regulates achievement levels.  Monitoring developed skills facilitates future perception and task engagement.  Individuals achieve positive states of being when interest in the context is established.  Persistence is seen as a key attribute in acquiring more.  Caution is advised as interest can lead individuals into less relevant content.  Expertise predicts a higher level of interest, but does not correlate with a higher degree of performance.


Epistemic beliefs
Matching aptitude with the task is crucial.  The manner in which an individual perceives the environment (e.g. how we distinguish the context) relates to the way knowledge is understood and acquired (e.g. the origin of knowledge, how knowledge changes and how knowledge is structured).  Individuals who can distinguish between information and knowledge can approach a task that is ill-structured and comprehend a contextual methodology (e.g. being given a task that has no clarity or significance).


Muis created new knowledge from combined research in epistemic beliefs and self-regulated learning.  The four main findings from her work are that:

• learners observe features of tasks that reflect epistemic qualities;
• they use these perceptions to set goals and frame plans for accomplishing work;
• as work on a standard task proceeds, learners use epistemic standards to metacognitively monitor and regulate learning practices; and
• engaging in successful self-regulated learning can alter epistemic beliefs, specifically toward a more constructive stance.

Context factors
Peer supported learning
Groups comprising of five to six members can be said to offer "multiple social, motivational, behavioural and academic benefits" (pg. 9).  When forming groups, sociomotivational or cognitive aspects of collaboration in learning highlight positive interdependence and individual accountability.  Groups are generally mixed and include differing levels of aptitude, gender and ethnicity.  Setting goals that facilitate working together is an incentive to address mutual support within the group.  Small groups are more equipped to develop social skills, constructive feedback skills and give encouragement to other members.  The effect of learning interventions positively increases characteristics in attaining success, social competence, self-concept and task.  Embedding activities within daily interaction (e.g. individual - computer; individual - individual; individual - information) supports group learning promoting individual cognitive and metacognitive operations more effectively than individual learning can.  Group learning may help individuals to retain metacognitive self-control.  There are more opportunities within groups to provide an holistic increase in learning than with private study (e.g. asking questions).  How effective the learning environment becomes depends on the commitment levels of each group member.  Individuals who create their own knowledge from information learn better than individuals who are given the answer.  Relevancy of discussion reveals what has been absorbed.


Observation has proven that groups of individuals:

• with similar ability tend to regress in performance;
• with adult/child type interaction, only the child benefits from adult expertise and sensitivity (e.g. adult teaches child to read).

Classroom and class size
Achievement gains in individuals occur when class size is at fifteen students or fewer.  Observations conducted in the UK (children eleven years and under) revealed that children benefited from increased one-to-one interaction with the adult.  Difficulties faced stemmed from teacher-directed collaboration without consideration for alternative methods required in smaller groups.  A key factor in the performance/achievement of an individual rests in their sense of community and self-worth.  Both teaching and learning methods are outcomes of metacognitive control.  Metacognitive control sets the standard an individual aspires to.


Homework
While there are many opinions and theories regarding homework, work done by Cooper in 1989 and 2006 maps the relationship between academic achievement and homework.  The positive effects of homework are based in a morass of variables.  The three levels of analysis identified are:

• a positive relationship between the frequency of assigned homework and class achievement;
• achievement that positively relates to effort but not the time it takes to do homework; and
• in longitudinal studies, homework time related positively to achievement.

How an individual establishes self-perception sustains the creative loop of goal setting and self-regulation that predicts academic achievement.  Effective training in self-monitoring reduces the need for parental interaction.


Socioeconomic status
The environment in which a child is brought up determines individual attitude and perception (world view) regardless of socioeconomic status.  An environment that is descriptive of its attitude will predict future outcome (e.g. households where adults embed daily interactive reading activities with children).


Persistent debates
Discovery learning
Learning through discovery has been found to be more effective than teaching an answer.  Winne and Nesbit quote Piaget "each time one prematurely teaches a child something he could have discovered for himself, that child is kept from inventing it and consequently understanding it completely" (pg.15).  Discovery learning depends on curriculum based projects (e.g. science, math).  Exposing the children to questions develops creativity.  Unguided or minimal guidance allows the teacher to provide the framework (learning environment) the students can create their own meaning from (e.g. observation reveals that children work through and understand problem solving strategies more effectively when they are helped through a procedure better than when they are taught the answer).  Active learning (e.g. hands on experience) embeds cognitive engagement in goal setting.  Students who have had an opportunity to view the procedure before practice are more capable.  Instruction and self-explanation enhance procedural learning, but only self-explanation can be used as a transferable skill.  The teaching role in this approach to education lies in monitoring strategy and the direction of exploration that each student takes.


The cognitive workload is only accessible when a 'problem space' has been cleared in the individuals' mind.  Timing is critical in metacognitive guidance.


Methodological issues in modeling a psychology of academic achievement
Paradigmatic issues
Research into individual learning trajectories has not been able to accurately predict long term forecasts simply because most observation has been conducted under 'snapshot' situations (e.g. researchers interact with participants for a relatively short time and cannot predict outcomes of future situations).  More data on individual metacognitive control and goal setting procedures is required to fully understand the conditions of learning trajectories.  Related to this is the idea of merging the psychologies of "the way things are" and "the way we make things".


Shapes for future research
Winne and Nesbit state that the two streams of educational psychology are merging.  One stream has a focus on environmental impact (e.g. class size, epistemic belief, social interactions) while the other stream looks at how students work within their parameters (e.g. the way things are).  Students find their own level of comfort through a mix of exploration and instruction to develop individual accounts of learning and goal setting procedures (trial and error).  Future research will reveal the science behind the way we make things, in turn revealing the nature of standard setting.

Dijksterhuis, A. and Aarts, H. (2010). Goals, Attention and (Un)Consciousness

Dijksterhuis, A. and Aarts, H. (2010). Goals, Attention and (Un)Consciousness. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, pp. 467-490. Retrieved on June 27, 2010 from http://arjournals.annualreviews.org.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100445

Dijksterhuis and Aarts define:

Goals - the mental representation of behaviours or behavioural outcomes that are associated with positive effect. They determine our actions.

Volition - also called the will. The process by which we "decide" to engage in a particular behaviour.

Consciousness - the ability to be aware.

Unconscious - all the psychological processes of which we are not aware at any given moment.

Attention - the extent to which incoming information is processed.

Introduction
Achieving goals generates a sense of agency or willfulness in individuals as the realisation occurs that accomplishment is a result of direct action and consequence. Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that volition is a fundamental feature of self-image.

Traditionally, it has been assumed that individuals find resolution based on conscious decision (e.g. buying a pair of jeans, ordering pizza). It is also accepted that a variety of instruction bypasses consciousness (e.g. automation). Consciousness in behaviour was thought to be a necessary component to evoking volition. Libet, et al. created a stir by shaking the concept to the core with their experiment in conscious decision. Participants were requested to move their index finger according to individual will. Results were analysed based on movement, reported conscious decision to start movement, and brain readiness potential. Conscious decision preceded movement by 0.25/second (on average). Readiness potentials were observed as occurring at one second before consciousness.

Libet's work was considered controversial. Interpretation leads to contending that movement still starts with a conscious decision (e.g. the experimenter tells the participant to move a finger). Dijksterhuis and Aarts indicate that:

• participants consciously decide when to make the actual movement;
• but not whether to make the decision in the first place. 

Soon, et al. extended Libet's work in 2008 and changed the paradigm. They stated "participants not only choose when to engage in a specific act, but also which one of two possible acts to make" (pg. 2). In replicating Libet's experiment Soon, et al. found:

• readiness potential in the supplementary motor area (SMA) before the participants reported making a conscious decision as to which act to engage in; and 
• activity predictive of the specific act in the frontal and parietal cortex up to ten seconds before the actual act. 

Dijksterhuis and Aarts note that the unconscious has chosen the behavioural act before we are consciously aware. Recent research has also shown that goals and higher-cognitive processes that rely on cortical brain function can be modulated by unconscious stimuli. Lau and Passingham conducted experiments where participants were instructed to prepare an either/or judgement on an upcoming event. In some trials, participants were subliminally prepared to do the opposite. Results show that brain activity in areas relating to the instructed task reduced, and activity relating to the primed task was enhanced. Subliminal stimuli can activate the cognitive control system.

Pessiglioni, et al. experimented on participants subliminally primed for each trial to ascertain strength of motivation. Increased hand grip, and skin conductance and activation was observed in the ventral palladium, an area known to be dedicated to emotional and motivational output of the limbic system. Other research by Bijleveld, Custers and Aarts indicates that individuals apply themselves more fully by recruiting more resources when there is a high concentration of subliminal reward cues, and only if the reward required intense focus (e.g. when we can perceive the effects of concentrated attention). Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that "people use reward information in a strategic manner to recruit resources, without this information ever reaching conscious awareness" (pg. 3).

A growing body of literature from social cognition substantiates the fact that by setting goals, an individual can affect higher cognitive processes and consequently set overt behaviour without conscious awareness of the goal. In trials where words such as "strive" or "succeed" were introduced subliminally to prime an achievement goal, participants outperformed those who had not been primed. Goal priming enhances the qualities that are associated with motivational states or goal-directedness (e.g. persistence, increased effort).  Dijksterhuis and Aarts state in summary that:

individuals "become consciously aware of an act only after they unconsciously decide to engage in it" (pg. 3); volitional behaviour does not require any consciousness at all; which means goals and motivation can be unconsciously primed.

Dijksterhuis and Aarts focus on exploring how goals, attention, and consciousness are linked to better understand how individuals can be more goal directed and display volitional behaviour without conscious awareness.  The authors contend that goals and attention have the leading role and are the main characters in the 'play' Volitional Behaviour where:

• goals guide attention and consequent expression; and
• goals and attention are largely independent of consciousness.  

Goals, attention and consciousness
The authors review literature from social psychology, cognitive psychology and neuroscience on the relation between goals, attention and (un)consciousness.  The start or reference point to almost all behaviour is a goal. The predominant view that goals are rewarding to attain indicates that goal related behaviour control cognitive and motivational processes. Therefore, behaviours or outcomes that occur as a result of action can be attributed to having goals that are sustained and motivated by the environment.

There is an abundance of literature to support how goals can be activated by features of the environment. Dijksterhuis and Aarts summarise that the representative behaviour becomes positively and unconsciously attached to a goal that motivates and sustains the individual.

Attention refers to the selective process of one aspect while ignoring those that are considered irrelevant. An estimated one million fibers leave each human eye and signifies that we have 1Mb of raw data per second coming at us. Processing all this information at higher levels is impossible as higher-level cognition and behaviour has limited information-processing capacity.  Attention enables selected stimuli and actions for the reduced capacity process. In sensory analysis, information-processing does not require the attention it does in later stages and in increasing proportion. Attention is a limited resource, and as such some processes will continue, while others fade out.

Incoming information is processed by a bottom up (exogenous) and top down (endogenous) system. Exogenous refers to the stimulus that is instinctive or of learned biological significance. In top down situations, active goals determine the amount and duration of attention received. Goal related information is attended to much more than incoming information with perceived low priority. Stability of focus and flexibility distinguish the balance required that is critical to goal achievement. Disruptions of the balance leads to inferior performance.

Dijksterhuis and Aarts define consciousness thus: the ability to verbalise an awareness of some aspects of a process. All conscious process is accompanied by or is residual of an unconscious process. While attention can be directed to pursue a goal driven activity, certain aspects of the process may not reach consciousness at all. Goals modulate behavioural effects.

The relation between attention and consciousness
Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that there is no one categorical relation between attention and consciousness. Confusion arises as attention (particularly top down) and consciousness are related to experience. As levels of attention an individual pays to an incoming stimulus increases, corresponding levels of directed awareness similarly increase.

Recent research has a specific focus on understanding the distinction between attention and consciousness. Psychologically processes fall into a 2 x 2 taxonomic cell structure:

• whether stimuli are attended to, or not;
• whether they are reportable, or not (consciously aware of them).

Priming research results indicate stimuli that do not reach consciousness can influence psychological processes (includes overt behaviour), but that some degree of attention is necessary. Wenger and Smart applied the 2 x 2 model to distinguish between activation level and consciousness. They found:

• a state of no activation (no attention, no consciousness);
• a state of full activation (both attention and consciousness);
• a state of deep activation (stimuli that are attended to but are unconscious e.g. suppressed thoughts); and
• a state of surface activation (stimuli that are not attended to but are conscious e.g. daydreaming or free association).

The relation between goals and consciousness
Goals are part of knowledge networks. It is believed that goals direct unconscious behaviour. Knowledge networks include representations of goals (e.g. the actions, procedures, situations and objects that help manifest the goal). Goal-directed behaviour can be activated by influences external to the individual. Knowledge networks motivate individuals to act with intention. Therefore, goal representations can be primed to interact with behavioural and contextual information.

An element of research in unconscious goal pursuits deal with habit forming processes. Identification and practice of effective action in relevant situations. Unconscious instigation of a goal occurs when goal-directed behaviour has been performed frequently and is a habit.

Goal priming studies have demonstrated that skills that have not previously been used may become associated with the goal. Research required participants to eat a crumbly biscuit. Participants were simultaneously exposed to the scent of all-purpose cleaner because it was "assumed to enhance the accessibility of the goal of cleaning" (pg. 7). Participants exposed to the scent made more effort to keep their direct environment tidy. Dijskterhuis and Aarts state that goal activation encourages individuals to try new things in different places without having awareness of the operation of the goal. Goal contagion can be inferred from others' actions. Subsequent behaviour is controlled without conscious intent by the perceiver. Goals may automatically activate when significant others are involved. Research by Fitzsimons and Bargh shows that goals and attributed goal related behaviour can be activated when individuals are exposed to the names of intimates. The habitual goal is primed and resultant behaviour is naturally occurring. Priming members of social groups that contain representations of goals automatically leads to the pursuit of goals.

The observation that goal pursuits may be activated unconsciously suggests that conscious intention and goals are distinct concepts that are served by different processes and brain networks, and can operate independently. While intention is a reference to conscious decisions made on obtaining behavioural goals, goals are the representations of desired states that guide overt behaviour without conscious awareness.

The relation between goals and attention
Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that "attention is a functional process that selects and biases the incoming flow of information and internal representations in the service of effective goal achievement" (pg. 8). Content of attention is representative of goals that are active in that moment. One key role is for attention to translate goals into overt behaviour. Temporal and spatial aspects must be considered as goals cannot always be translated in the same situation. 'Interfering information' (e.g. information that conflicts with individual goal setting behaviour) from the social environment needs to be ignored or inhibited to ensure effective goal directed performance. Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that attention:

• orients and signals the individual towards goal relevant information; and
• supervises the translation of goals into behaviour.

Results indicate that goals modulate attention processes, regardless of conscious or unconscious source activation of the goal.

Research on working memory shows that semantic items decay within seconds if not made use of by goal related functions or intervention. Studies show that participants primed towards a goal were able to access representations of the goal, but activation fades when the desire to achieve the goal is gone (e.g. giving in to a late night snack when on a diet).

In summary, Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that goals can be translated into overt behaviour without individual conscious awareness of the activation and operation of the goal. The attention that operates on higher cognitive processes supports unconscious goal pursuit.

Implicit learning
Learning regularities allows us to anticipate events. Rules of predictive engagement are significant in optimally guiding goal directed behaviour (e.g. what actions are needed to achieve a goal). Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that we unconsciously learn complex rules and regularities from the bottom up. Often this type of learning requires no speech (e.g. we learn grammatical rules without being able to explain said rules). Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that the exact nature of what is learned without conscious guidance is still debated. Eitam, Hassin and Schul clearly demonstrated that participants who have been primed to achieve outperformed control participants, indicating that primed participants implicitly learned more. It was noted that neither group were able to eloquently describe what they had learned. Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that goals affect implicit learning without improving conscious recognition of what has been learned.

Learning mechanisms rely on bottom up processes (e.g. associative learning) that operate without conscious awareness. Top down learning (e.g. predictive relations or rule based learning) is assumed to require conscious awareness. Alonso, Fuentes and Hommel explicitly tested to ascertain that learning is a bi-directional process (e.g. if we make the association/relation from target to object, can we also learn from object to target). Findings suggest that bi-directional associations (memory structures) are formed without awareness. An awareness of predictive relations between target and object forms uni-directional structures. Goal priming leads to uni-directional memory structures. Conscious awareness is therefore not the determining factor that shows how predictive relations are required. Acquisition relies on unconscious attention to process relevant goals.

Evaluative conditioning
Dijksterhuis and Aarts describe evaluative conditioning as crucial to shaping preferences and goals. Studies show that evaluative conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus or unconditioned stimulus is subliminally primed. Krosnick, et al. showed participants slides of a target performing a daily task. Slides of either a child holding a doll or a blood spattered shark were placed before each target slide for 13 milliseconds. Participants rated the target paired with the positive image as being more personable.

The question that conscious awareness as a necessary component of evaluative conditioning continues to be debated, but recent research by Field and Moore suggests that the central role belongs to attention. Participants exposed to normal situations could process conditioned stimuli. Participants were given a distractor task that depleted attention. Individuals who stayed focused on their task showed evaluative conditioning effects.

Pleyers, et al. suggest that contingency awareness be measured on each unconditioned stimulus-conditioned stimulus combination as it related to the participant rather than through measurement of the participant. Their study showed the effects of evaluative conditioning when participants were aware of conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus combinations. Participants showed no evaluative conditioning effects when they were not aware of conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus. Dijksterhuis and Aarts indicate that close evaluation of their work indicates that while the majority of participants were aware of the conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus couplings, some participants had no awareness of pairings. There were no instances of participants being aware of only some pairings. The results on conditioning with subliminal stimuli indicate that "it is more likely that the seeming contingency awareness is merely the consequence of some other factor that is necessary for conditioning, most likely attention" (pg. 13). It was noted that process-driven attention is a necessary component for evaluative conditioning to occur. Evaluative conditioning effects are noticeably stronger for individuals who are highly-involved and score high in perception.

Unconscious thought
When making choices, it was traditionally thought that conscious deliberation helped form preference. In studies where participants were shown a selection of apartments with a range of attributes, one group was asked to make a decision as soon as they had read the information, while another group were given time before having to decide, and the third group was given a working memory task preventing conscious thought before making their decision. This latter group used unconscious thought to make decisions that were more accurate when compared with the previous two groups (i.e. participants remembered the positive attributes of the apartments).

Evidence suggests unconscious thought is a goal-dependent process. When participants were asked to make a decision, one group was informed that there would be further questions. The group that had to retain information in working memory had the goal to further process the given information. The second group had no such goal and results show that the first group outperformed the second group. Dijksterhuis and Aarts indicate that unconscious thought is goal-dependent. Without goals in decision making, unconscious thought is not evoked.

Dijksterhuis and Aarts note that there is "considerable resistance" (pg. 14) in accepting that people think unconsciously. Preliminary results show that when participants are actively involved in a task and distracted by unconscious thought, the success of unconscious thought competes with activity showing that unconscious thought requires working memory resources (e.g. when our eyes read data, but haven't processed the information because we're thinking of something else). Dijksterhuis and Aarts note distinct evidence that indicates implicit learning, evaluative conditioning and unconscious thought are goal directed and require attention.

Focus, flexibility and the two-faced role of consciousness
The creation and maintenance of goal pursuit involves volitional behaviour. However, individuals must reflect on established goals to adjust desired states with actual states in order to maintain progress. In addition, new and emerging goals compete for attention. The challenge is to remain focused on maintaining and stablising goals. As circumstance changes, flexibility is required to adjust behaviour to adapt. Both aspects are required for optimal goal pursuit as volitional behaviour adapts to a context-dependent balance.

The rewards and requirements associated with individual motivation to succeed is found in the balance between focus and flexibility which can occur without conscious awareness. The motivation and intention to act on goals emerges from the unconscious interactions between goal representations and positive affect (incentive).

Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that individuals notice their unconscious goals when the balance between focus and flexibility is impaired. Unconscious goals reach consciousness incrementally when progress is blocked. Dijksterhuis and Aarts propose that when consciousness occurs in conjunction with and directs the impaired balance of focus and flexibility, results may improve adaptive behaviour and performance. But if an individual is balanced in focus and flexibility, consciousness does not enhance performance. Conversely, it is seen to jeopardise performance as constant self-evaluation disturbs the balance of behaviour. Benefits to consciousness in an impaired balance occur in situations where individuals face deadlock. The implication is that a new or never before executed planned course of action is considered (e.g. double-loop learning). Global Workspace Theory proposes that consciousness facilitates activity and integrated brain functions to prepare the individual for the upcoming situation.

Conclusion
Dijksterhuis and Aarts state that what we want and what we focus our attention on is representative of the goals we will achieve. Goals engage volitional behaviour by modulating attention. In general, our attention is focused on information that serves our goals.

Goal pursuit can be an entirely unconscious procedure. Whether implicit learning, evaluative conditioning, and unconscious thought can proceed without conscious guidance is a current debate. Recent research reveals that these processes are goal and attention dependent, not conscious dependent. Attention acts to maintain the balance between focus and flexibility when pursuing goals. Becoming overly self-aware leads to a disruption of natural balance that affects goal orientation (focus is diverted).


Summary points:

1. attention is largely determined by goals;
2. consciousness and attention may be correlated in real life (such that stimuli that are attended to are more likely to enter consciousness), but they are independent;
3. processes that we think we may need consciousness for are usually dependent on attention and not consciousness;
4. goal pursuit is dependent on both focus (the ability to keep the same information active) and flexibility (the ability to respond to changing circumstances);
5. attention is responsible for a balance between focus and flexibility; and
6. conscious intervention may help to restore the balance between focus and flexibility, however it may disturb an already appropriate balance.

Proctor, R. W. and Vu, K. L. (2010). Cumulative Knowledge and Progress in Human Factors

Proctor, R. W. and Vu, K. L. (2010).  Cumulative Knowledge and Progress in Human Factors.  Annual Review of Psychology, 61, pp. 623-651.  Retrieved on June 27, 2010 from http://arjournals.annualreviews.org.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100325


Introduction
Proctor and Vu state that the evolution of psychology has been well documented, noticeably since Kuhn coined the term 'paradigm' in the 1960's.  Emphasis on new paradigms and new paradigm shifts have been essential to the advancement of science.  An important implication to remember in paradigm shifts is that "past research is of little relevance because it is from 'old' paradigms" (pg. 3).  New and increasingly sophisticated technologies reinforce the view within human factors.


Proctor and Vu indicate that even though paradigm shifts are popular conceptually in science, contemporary philosophies do not operate in this way.  Proctor and Vu assume the contrary view that progress in scientific psychology is general, and in human factors specifically, is cumulative.  Previous editions of the Annual Review provide a necessary context for understanding that building contemporary research relies on knowledge from past research.


Reviews on engineering psychology
Work published between 1958 and 1966 include sections of human machine systems and automation.  Within those topics, the focus involved basic human performance and core factors related to display and control design.  Research on space travel, stress as an effect of performance, monitoring and vigilance, and multi-operator systems ran concurrently.  The term 'human performance' was added to Engineering Psychology in the 1970's to better explain its scientific aspect.  Human performance remained popular, but the weighting of complex task environments and higher-level cognitive processes increased.  Focus was paid to attention, mental workload and decision-making processes.  Human computer interaction (HCI) was introduced, originating from cognitive and experimental psychology, and continues to present day.  Descriptions on information foraging and computer-supported cooperative work became richer as group and team work was examined.  Proctor and Vu argue that "[t]he articles bear out our view that research in human factors has evolved and produced an ever-increasing understanding of human performance in applied settings" (pg. 4).


Human information processing and related approaches
The human information processing approach characterises humans as a communications systems with various and distinct processes, and is similar to the way we analyse machine processing.  Developing a language that considers all human performance is vital to the development of human factors.  Contemporary cognitive theories use biological mechanisms and neural activity recordings in experimental methods to determine neural underpinnings.  By recording brain activity during the performance of complex tasks, researchers can enhance the phenomena that concern human factors.  Specific gene detailing allows for insight into the efficiency of brain functions.  Measures of neural activity determine individual cognition in real-time states.  Technology can be adapted to meet current cognitive needs.


Critics argue that too much attention has been placed on adaptive evolutionary functions in cognitive mechanisms.  As they are adaptations, consideration should be paid to the functions they would have served in survival of the fittest.  Proctor and Vu consider this processing as highly modular.  Interpretations of findings suggest that memory can be fine-tuned to recall information that is processed for survival.  Evolutionary psychologists suggest that memory recall is considerably more efficient when information is consistent with functional adaptations to the processing system.


The term information foraging denotes the strategies that humans apply to gather information and focuses on how individuals navigate information structures that lead to the understanding and improvement of human information interaction.  The resulting technology is a better match for both human capability and strategy.


Social factors are considered significant when studying task and activity performance.  Social cognition is the identified way in which individuals make sense of each other.  Studies show that most social cognition occurs as an unconscious process.  Categorisations are made automatically and behavioural associations ensue.  Although data is available to establish the correlation between unconscious influences and behaviour, it is uncertain whether mental states are similarly unconscious.  Current research has taken particular focus in considering human characteristics when designing IT systems (so much so that a special issue of Applied Ergonomics was warranted).  Significant interest has been paid to the area of shared cognition (common goals, awareness of issues and status) that is necessary for team performance.


Proctor and Vu note the research on cognitive paradigms in the 1960's was undertaken by "cold, affectless thinking" representative of the era.  Research on the cognitive aspects of emotional vulnerability have grown extensively since then, and research has kept current by analysing selective processes of emotional information.  Khalid indicates that there is close interplay between affect and cognition.  Affect determines our representations of the social world around us and how we maintain them in memory.  Cognitive processing is the other component to affective processing (e.g. reactive and proactive response).  Human physical,  cognitive and emotional needs must be satisfied when considering affective reactions in design processes.  Tutoring systems, using avatars that display emotion, have been found to be effective in promoting learning.


Performance of perceptual-motor tasks
Although it appeared that interest in perpetual motor studies waned after 1976, current research indicates that understanding of the topic has changed.


Vigilance
Mackworth studied human factors in his work on vigilance in sonar and radar operators.  He questioned why so many submarines went undetected.  Operators were less vigilant over time, and this was initially attributed to the monotonous nature of the task.  Diligence wanes after fifteen minutes.  Current research proposes that it should be partially attributed to the high mental demands of maintaining a vigil.


Stimulus response compatibility
Studies on mapping stimuli responses and spatial compatibility indicate that performance is better when responses are mapped to the corresponding stimuli.  Proctor and Vu proposed stimuli to be associated with location.  Location can be defined physically, with words, arrows or motions that positively indicate the information location.  Research has shown that the location of the action goal is critical to compatibility effects (e.g. operating hand held tools that require the hand to go in the opposite direction to the tip of the tool).  The required action and movement have a compatible effect.


Multiple task performance
Although there are a variety of studies in the area of multiple tasking and human factors, trials generally focus on dual-task performance.  These trials are focused towards psychological refractory period (PRP) effects (e.g. if stimuli for both tasks are received within a few hundred milliseconds of each other, the response for the second stimuli is delayed and cannot begin until the first task has been accomplished).  It is undetermined whether this response is naturally occurring cognitive architecture or a result of coordinating performance for both tasks.  Capacity sharing models view the bottleneck as a resource with limited capacity that can allocate resources for two tasks by devoting different amounts to central resources rather than focusing on consecutive tasks.  Dual-task performance is better when tasks are dissimilar.  Executive control processes are critical when tasks cannot be carried out together.  The delay caused between switching and interleaving tasks costs, Proctor and Vu state.


PRP and other phenomena associated with attention exemplify the difficulty individuals have concentrating on one task while performing another (e.g. the use of communication devices when driving).


Aimed movements and Fitt's law
Proctor and Vu define Fitt's Law as movement time being "a logarithmic function of an index difficulty, which is positively related to movement distance and inversely related to the area of the target" (pg. 9) (e.g. how long it will take to achieve using a computer mouse to point to something onscreen).  Fitt's Law has proven to be highly applicable in human computer interactions, so prediction times are seen to be accurate.


Summary
Proctor and Vu observe that contemporary research has been built on the foundation of past research.  Several areas of study have emerged and are essential sources of knowledge in basic and applied knowledge of human factors.


Awareness, attentional control and automaticity
Capacity in human information processing is a limited resource, and much work has been directed around information overload.


Mental workload
Recent work in this area has been centred around application in the transportation industry, interface design, job design, medicine, etc.  Findings show that individuals can maintain their performance when conditions of high workload exist if they apply information-processing strategies so that attention is concentrated on primary, and not peripheral, tasks.  Proctor and Vu state that mental workload assessment can be used to evaluate hypotheses on increasing/decreasing performance as discussed in work on vigilance.


Mental workload assessment has received general acceptance when evaluating how new tasks impact the effects of different design elements or exploring the consequences of using different levels of automation.


Situation awareness
Definitions indicate that situation awareness is the complete awareness of how an individual can relate to the objects/elements that surround her with full understanding of current and projected status of each.  The focus is on the operator's mental representation generated by external awareness (fundamental information processes).


Durso, Rawson and Girotto emphasise that more attention should be paid to "the information processing component because awareness implies that only explicit information is important, whereas comprehension allows for an influence of implicit information as well" (pg. 11).  Durson, et al. indicate that situation awareness be treated as a cognitive construct as applied to successful system designs in aviation and medicine.


Team performance relies on individual and shared member awareness.  Current issues in measuring team awareness remain complex and challenging.


Multimodal and adaptive display design
Proctor and Vu state that "[a]dvances in technology have allowed large amounts of information to be made available to people for performing a variety of tasks and have provided novel ways of inputting and outputting information from interfaces" (pg. 11).  They use multimodal warning signals that alert drivers to possible  hazards as examples.  The information displayed activates the use of sensory and response modality systems.  Proctor and Vu indicate that workload of an individual seemed to be least when pulse rate was considered medium and trust in the system was greatest.


Interfaces are designed to interact and adapt to individual habits and performance needs.  Adaptive systems benefit the user in the long term by automatically modifying.  Future empirical studies in human information processing and multimodal information processing should be considered the foundation of system design.


Applications: next generation air transportation system and networked battlefield
Sociotechnical applications where knowledge of mental workload, situation awareness, display design and other aspects of human factors have been used in air transportation systems and for military purposes.  Government agencies have provided much of the related support for transforming automation technologies in air traffic management systems and military battlefield operations.


Ubiquitous computing and accessibility
Proctor and Vu indicate that computing is ubiquitous and use will only increase in the future.  Central to this is the design and implementation of systems that incorporate human factors.


The internet and the web
Proctor and Vu suggest that the most dramatic occurrence in technological change has been the development of a world wide portal to information and connectivity (the internet).  Aspects of human computer interaction have led to considerations of design (e.g. structure and content of a site so that users can access and achieve their goals easily).  Human factor research has been widely used for content preparation and to understand how individuals gather information when browsing or searching the web.  Focus includes grouping and categorising of information, display of information, and navigational flow.


Miniaturisation and mobile technology
Wireless mobile devices are equipped with multiple functions that simulate computer technology on a smaller scale.  Such devices have usability issues that stem from design guidelines that have been developed for large-scale computer systems.  Bertini, Gabrielli and Kimani have identified four guidelines that evaluate the user-friendliness of mobile devices:

1. ease of input;
2. screen readability and ability to perceive information at a glance;
3. flexibility, efficiency of use, and personalisation; and
4. realistic error management.

Specific information-processing needs are accommodated and user preferences are stressed in mobile device design.


Information security and privacy
Essential functioning of e-commerce (and similar) depends on secure practice.  The use of passwords is encouraged to promote good practice.  Proctor and Vu state that good passwords are an amalgam of digits, letters and characters often generated by the computer system.  This makes them quite long, and very often individuals write them down defeating the purpose of a secure password.  Proctor and Vu propose using a mnemonic technique where the user generates a sentence and uses (potentially) the first letter of each word to create a password.  Using only the alphabet makes the password easy to crack.  Proctor and Vu suggest attaching different values to the letters to make it more a more viable and secure option (e.g. the letter 't' is assigned a value of '5').


Privacy policies reassure users that personal details are used only in the capacity for which it was intended.  Proctor and Vu note that most privacy policies exist only to satisfy legal requirements and are difficult for the end user to understand.  Machine readable policies have been developed to standardise application programs that identify whether the site policy conforms to user privacy.  Human factors are engaged in designing an interface that accurately selects items in the privacy policy and compares it with sites that support informed choices.  As security and privacy interests are subject to end user cooperation, interactions need to be made simple and intuitive.


Individual differences and special populations
Differences in individual levels of information-processing are taken into account when designing (e.g. individuals with low working memory fair worse than individuals with a higher capacity when performing a variety of tasks).  Research results indicate that there are two components to these differences:

1. the ability to maintain activation of information in working memory; and
2. the ability to search for information in long-term memory.

Proctor and Vu state that working memory is a large component of human factors.  Practices and experience particular to a culture is gaining increasing attention as researchers try to effectively contribute towards understanding cultural differences in order to promote a global economy.  Globalisation has meant that products made in one part of the world are shipped and used in other parts of the world.  Successful globalisation has identified cultures, customs and how differences between cultures influence individual performance and preference.


This emphasis on globalisation has had broader effects on cultural ergonomics.  Social relations vary in different cultures and two significant factors are:

1. individualism-collectivism - the degree to which an individual is influenced by other people; and
2. power distance - the degree to which an individual will lower themselves before a power hierarchy and defer to decisions made by those higher up.

Proctor and Vu indicate that Asian cultures tend towards higher collectivism and power distance than their American counterparts.  These differences become critical when analysing team and organisational performance.  Proctor and Vu note that similarly structured teams in different cultures lead to quite a different performance.


Age is seen to bring its own unique considerations.  Perceptual-motor and memory processing demands require different interface designs for the site to be effective.  Similarly targeted are individuals who are blind and deaf, or who have temporary or permanent disabilities.  Universal access is a standard for designers who ensure "that the full benefits of the technologies have their maximal impact" (pg. 17).


Alternatives to the information processing approach
Alternative frameworks have frequently been used to enable researchers to gain another perspective when considering perceived deficiencies.  Proctor and Vu indicate that most criticisms about the "information-processing approach are misguided and reflect the trends of research being conducted rather than fundamental faults in the approach itself.  Although the perspectives offered by the alternative approaches are not bereft of value for specific purposes, the arguments for replacing the information-processing  approach as the overall framework for studying basic and applied principles of human performance are erroneous" (pg.17).  


Activity theory
In activity theory, emphasis is placed on the social context of human actions.  Described as the focus of analysis and design in work environments and user activity, that the user helps create.  Karwowski lists features that differentiate it from cognitive/information-processing approach:

• human activity is social in nature;
• cognition, external behaviour and motivation should be considered as components of a unitary system of activity;
• activity is a goal directed, self-regulated system, which cannot be studied as a reactive behaviour or computer-like information processing system; and
• activity should be analysed as a system; therefore, not only parametric but  systematic methods of study are required.

Proctor and Vu state:

• information processing provides the widely accepted foundation for the approach to social psychology known as social cognition;
• the information-processing approach is dedicated to explaining external behaviour; and
• research devoted to linking motivational concepts with information-processing has increased significantly.

The ecological approach, cognitive engineering and embodied cognition
In 1979, Gibson highlighted the constraints that individuals perceive from the natural environment.  Emphasis is placed on the potential to action from environmental stimuli.  This approach downplays lab conditions, which may be seen as a false (restrictive) environment.  Cognitive engineering studies behaviour in naturally occurring environments.  Ecological psychology "presents a richer view of human behaviour that is holistic and contextualised" (pg. 19).  The physical environment is important in understanding the opportunities and constraints that an individual may contemplate.  Proctor and Vu note that while ecological psychology is suitable and well adapted for the study of human factors, progress in other disciplines has been conducted under scientifically controlled and analysed conditions.  Both approaches offer positive results.


Embodied cognition lies in the foundation that our minds and bodies must work together to achieve our potential ("commitment to the idea that the minds must be understood in the context of its relationship to a physical body that interacts with the world", pg. 19).  Proctor and Vu assume that this approach indicates cognition cannot be explained as information-processing systems that are independent of physical function.  Proctor and Vu believe that "explanations must consider how cognition is grounded in the real-world environment in which cognition operates" (pg. 19).  Proctor and Vu describe themselves as researchers who study perceptual-motor performance and agree that models of cognition should be grounded in perception and action which has been done through the information-processing perspective since the 1950's.


Situated cognition, situated action and distributed cognition
As learning is understood to be a social act, there is emphasis on the importance of conducting the learning activity in a social context.  It is an area of research developed by educational psychology, and has primarily been attributed to Vygotsky.  In human factors, the approach is referred to as situated action.  The perspective is drawn from the foundation of anthropological and sociological research.  Proctor and Vu state that the aim is not just to build models of knowledge and action, but to explore the relationship between knowing and acting as it applies to context or circumstance.  Distributed cognition is similar in concept to memetics in that cognition can be external to the individual and is formed in the relationship between individual and artefact.


These views are representative of social contexts and critics argue that information-processing cannot accommodate the social context, Proctor and Vu state.  They observe that while the social context has been neglected, Anderson, Reder and Simon state that the cognitive approach is more commonly drawn from "social information processing" (pg. 20).  Anderson, Reder and Simon state "[t]he cognitive methodology has delivered real educational applications in a way that the situated methodology has not and, we believe, fundamentally cannot" (pg. 20).  Proctor and Vu indicate this statement applies to both educational technology and human factors, and consider the information-processing approach the origin for most of the concepts in human factors.


Qualitative descriptions versus quantitative models
Proctor and Vu note that although the domain has traditionally been oriented towards experimentation and explanatory process models in human factors, progress of computational cognitive models has matured to a new level where a more holistic approach has been adopted.  Ethnographic research takes into consideration perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of an individual as she interacts in a natural setting, and is intended to provide comprehensive details of specific situations.  Qualitative methods are useful for gathering data that quantitative models cannot grasp in some situational contexts.


Summary points

1. Progress in human factors research is cumulative.  From the earliest Annual Review article on engineering psychology to the present, human factors research has produced an ever-increasing understanding of human performance in applied settings.
2. The human information-processing approach is responsible for much of the growth in human factors from its inception to the present.
3. Many recent research directions in cognitive psychology and human factors stem from the information-processing perspective.
4. Research on perceptual-motor performance is important to human factors historically and continues to contribute new insights.
5. Much research in human factors developed around issues of information overload, how this overload degrades performance, and how the problems associated with overload can be alleviated.
6. Issues associated with information overload and awareness are particularly important for introduction of new systems that provide large amount of dynamic information in real-time, such as Next Generation Airspace Transportation System and the networked battlefield.
7. Miniaturisation and mobilisation of computers have made their presence ubiquitous.  Realisation of the potential power of computing devices in various factors depends on human factors research.
8. Many criticisms of the human information-processing approach fail to acknowledge that it allows integration across (a) the most basic biological levels to conscious awareness; (b) perception, cognition, and action; (c) interactions among persons; (d) interactions among persons and machines; and (e) task and work environments in which people perform.

Shanks, D. R (2010). Learning: From Association to Cognition

Shanks, D. R (2010).  Learning: From Association to Cognition.  Annual Review of Psychology, 61, pp. 273-301.  Retrieved on June 27, 2010 from
http://arjournals.annualreviews.org.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100519


Introduction
Shanks examines the dichotomous view that learning occurs unconsciously.  Stimulus-response behaviourism has progressed significantly since the early 19th century so much so that studies in experimental psychology of the time now fill current researchers "with amusement and relief" (pg. 2) as noted by Brewer in the 1970s.  Brewer observed that processes of association formation and reinforcement are by and large irrelevant to understanding human learning.  Learning occurs as a process of cognitive consciousness.


Shanks introduces associationism which has dominated the history of learning theory, achieving prominence through Edward Thorndike who understood reinforcement processes (Laws of Effect and Exercise) that strengthen S-R connections.  Shanks indicates that Thorndike was the pioneer of what is known as implicit learning.  Rewards (punishments) can have an effect on learning even when the individual is unaware that learning is taking place.  Thorndike's work used reinforcement process as a key role to support learning as independent to awareness.  Gestaltists and field theorists believe in an opposing position with regards to effect vs. information.  They (e.g. Kohler, Koffka, Tolman) suggest that events "set the context for the development of insight and problem solving" (pg. 2) rather than provide opportunities for gradual trial and error learning.  Shanks notes that Tolman in particular argued that reinforcement is not necessary.  Cognitive relationships (e.g. hypotheses, maps) are a result of stimuli or events that perpetuate the connections.


Brewer was convinced by evidence that showed that conditioning of autonomic, motor and complex responses only occurs in parallel with expectancies and awareness.  The significance of which indicates that all conditioning is a result of cognitive processing, and particularly so in the formation and testing of conscious hypothesis.  Shanks questions whether Brewer's position on learning as an intrinsic conscious process stands up against current research.  Shanks indicates that our scope for explaining the depth of learning would be seriously curtailed if excitement and reinforcement concepts were abandoned.


Role of cognition in learning
Shanks uses the terms CS and US where CS stands for conditioned stimulus and US stands for unconditioned stimulus.  Classically, conditioned stimulus predicts unconditioned stimulus.  As a result of learning, the normal response to unconditional stimulus is evoked by conditioned stimulus (e.g. Pavlovian context - dogs are conditioned to expect food or a shock on hearing a tone).


Shanks questions whether learning is a result of cue and outcome that becomes a mental link or if it is generated by propositional belief that represents the relationship.  If true conditioning results in an unconscious and automatic learning mechanism, how does verbal, cognitive and conscious instruction make contact?  Shanks indicates that "conditioning in fact gives rise to conscious, cognitive, propositional representations rather than to automatic, unconscious ones" (pg. 4).  A position that many current researchers align with.


Blocking:  associative accounts
Shanks refers to Kamin's work on blocking which is central to the history of learning theory.  Blocking is "the fundamental demonstration that learning about the relationship between two events depends on not just their frequency of pairing, but also on the extent to which one provides information about the other" (pg. 4).  Shanks uses the following example to demonstrate: consider an individual who has allergies to some food.  On the first day, the individual is fed tomatoes and suffers an allergic reaction.  On the second day, the individual is fed tomatoes with pasta and suffers an allergic reaction.  The individual is asked to determine how much the pasta is associated with the reaction.  Blocking refers to the tomato induced allergic reaction that weakens the pasta induced allergy connection.  Cues A and B (pasta and tomato) predicts an outcome.  The degree of learning about A outcomes is reduced if B has previously and individually predicted that outcome (e.g. we don't think about the pasta as being the culprit if the tomato has caused an allergic reaction previously).


Blocking: cognitive accounts
The key observation of Waldmann and Holyoak towards association is that it has no semantic properties (different meanings can be derived from words or symbols).  They suggest that it should make no difference whether the words cues and outcomes (described as cause and effect) become effect and cause.  Imagine a sample of patients' blood that indicates the patient is suffering from disease X.  To make the learning connections between substance (cue/conditioned stimulus) and disease (outcome/unconditioned stimulus), one must learn the association.  Waldmann and Holyoak indicate that the substance may be a cause or an effect of the disease, which would alter outcomes significantly.  Their argument underlines the fact that blocking works in a cause-effect scenario, and not the other way around.  Shanks' review of literature reveals that there are instances of association that provide an appropriate account of participant behaviour, although full understanding of the boundary conditions are not available.  Shanks uses related research by Matute, Vegas and De Marez on allergic reactions to medicine that questions:

• a) to what extent medicine causes reactions;
• b) the extent to which it predicts/indicates a reaction; and
• c) the extent to which medicine and allergies occur (e.g. not all individuals are allergic to anaesthetic).

An alternative to this theory can be found in De Houwer, Beckers and Glautier's work on cognitive influences of blocking, proposing that blocking arises from a sequence of thoughts (chain of reasoning).  Shanks quotes: "the outcome is as probable and intense after B as after AB ... therefore A is not the cause of the outcome" (pg. 6).  De Houwer, Beckers and Glautier note that this conclusion is only valid if the effect is not at maximum levels, and the outcome can occur with greater probability and intensity.  They speculated that if reasoning caused blocking rather than associative conditions, then participants would have trouble identifying the status of blocks from A cue.  Tests revealed:

• Stage 1 - B cue predicts outcome; and
• Stage 2 - A and B cue occur with the same outcome.

It is hard to distinguish whether A cue had an effect or if it was masked by B cue outcome:

• If B cue causes maximum intensity, there is no way an increase or alteration can be caused by A cue even if it does have a causal effect.

When contrasting maximum intensity outcomes to submaximal, the participants indicated that intensity was at 10/20.  De Houwer, Beckers and Glautier indicate that failure of A cue to change the outcome in Stage 2 is significant.  They observed much stronger blocking in submaximal conditions and argue that associative theories are inconsistent with their results.  A review of literature indicates that "[i]f participants believe cues are additive, then the failure of B cue to cause an increase in the outcome's magnitude indicates that it is ineffective, and blocking should be substantial" (pg. 7).  But if it is believed that cues are subadditive (where A cue and B cue cause maximum intensity - 1M), then together they should cause 2M.  Failure of B cue to increase the magnitude of M does not imply lack of causal power in B.  Evidence of blocking should be weaker in subadditive conditions, and common observation will provide detail to naturally occurring patterns.


Shanks indicates a counter argument exists.  Wheeler, Beckers and Miller's research shows subadditive pretreatment is sensitive to manipulation which compromises generalisations.  They hypothesise that the effect emerges through reflection of associative structures in context that lead to blocking (e.g. I ate a tomato, I suffered an allergic reaction; I ate tomato and pasta, I suffered an allergic reaction; I think I'm allergic to tomatoes; I will avoid tomatoes from now on).  Haselgrove's simple experiment introduced an extra cue at trial stage and found that a pretreatment stage reduces blocking.  Schmajuk and Larrauri propose a model where associative connections are updated by reinforcement processes and connections have no symbolic reference.  While different from Haselgrove's model, the additivity effect is reproduced.  Schmajuk and Larrauri suggest that it is not necessary to interpret additivity effects by means of propositional reasoning. Other research provides the possibility that effects from maximality and additivity influence the shifts between elemental and configural processing.  Shanks refers to literature that suggests both human and nonhuman organisms represent stimuli in flexible ways, and indicates that as there are no set weights for each element there are no set responses across trial types.  Configural representations are required that are distinct from constituent parts.


Melchers, Lachnit and Shanks assigned new discrimination in EX+ and FX- with very different results.  The group favoured E cue to F cue as evident in pretraining on control discrimination but not in feature-neutral contexts.  This pattern of evidence is consistent with group training in control discrimination transferring elemental strategy to a new problem by breaking down components and assigning positive weighting to E cue and zero weighting to F and X cues.  Groups trained in feature-neutral contexts transferred configural strategy where compounds and elements are treated as independent.


A reported range of manipulations that may enhance elemental processing also increases blocking (similar to additivity instructions).  Manipulations that (are assumed to) enhance configural processing decrease blocking (subadditivity instructions).  When cues are presented in a configural manner, blocking can be eliminated even when an additivity pretreatment stage was included.  Hence the proposition that maximality and additivity effects influence by shifting the balance between elemental and configurational process.  However, Shanks indicates that it is difficult to profile the locus of additivity effects.


Retrospective Revaluation
Backward blocking is the reduced judgement made between A cue and its result.  Similar to forward blocking where B and AB represent the same outcome, A is not an independent cause.  Shanks indicates that the main findings are compatible with associationism.  Ghirlanda assigned 50 units each with coded elemental stimulus that revealed:

• reduction in judgments for A after AB+, B+ training (e.g. pasta is considered okay after putting pasta and tomato together, with initial positive tomato training) - yields backward blocking;
• increase in judgments for A after AB+, B- training; and
• negative judgments for A after AB-, B+ training.

Coding schemes allow cues to activate overlapping sets of elements and define the principle of stimulus generalisation.  Kruschke assumes that knowledge is not acquired by the strength of a single association but through a distribution of a range of beliefs.  These hypotheses are adjusted according to feedback.  Dickinson and Burke propose that in backward blocking A cue and B cue form a key association (within-compound) retrospectively.  Using the following example, they propose a revised associative theory:

• Stage 1 - AB cue results in an allergic reaction, associations are made to cues, outcome and the relationship between cues; and
• Stage 2 - B cue occurs independently and results in an allergic reaction.

if

• B cue activates the representation of A cue in Stage 1 using the association between cues; then
• A cue is reduced in associative strength.

Shanks reiterates that associative processes and reinforcement govern learning.  Memory retrieval processes propose an alternative account.  Participants in Melchers, Lachnit and Shanks' research accessed trial types via memory recall and replay (connectionist theory).  Replayed trials function the same way experienced trials do if memory can be recalled accurately enough to reduce A cue strength.  Backwards blocking occurs reflectively.  Significantly there was no correlation between forward blocking and participant memory in their compound trials.


Blocking: memory for the blocked cue
Shanks notes that impaired memory can make recalling judgments on associations weak as outcomes that occurred as a result of A cue involvement will not activate the same response during replay.  Inferential accounts provoke opposing predictions where participants are assumed to follow a chain of reasoning: "If A predicts the outcome, then the effect of AB would have been greater than that of B alone.  B and AB predicted the same outcome, thus A is not predictive" (pg. 11).  Studies carried out in 2006 by Mitchell, Lovibond, Minard and Lavis reveal that subadditivity pretraining leaves the participant ambiguous about B cue status.  Forward blocking on predictive and recall judgments strongly supports associative analysis.  Later work by Griffiths and Mitchell describe their model as a bridge between studies in associative learning and research on recognition and (other forms of) memory to provide "a middle way between the extreme cognitivism of inferential accounts and the equally extreme reductionism of S-R theory" (pg. 13).


Awareness and learning
Lovibond and Shanks argued in 2002 that there was no strong reason to revise the view that a necessary condition for learning is awareness.  Shanks presents some recent studies on eyeblink, fear and evaluative conditioning.  Eyeblink conditioning determines that there is a delay between the end of conditioned stimulus and the start of unconditioned stimulus.  In studies of fear conditioning where conditioned response (CR) is a change in skin conductance, participants were observed to have changes in skin conductance even when the conditioned sitmulus (a tone) was not audible and no cognitive association could be made.  Evaluative conditioning is the transfer of affect or positive feeling (liking) from one stimulus to another by pairing them (e.g. putting a favourite painting next to a painting of neutral status will increase positive feelings for the painting with neutral status; the converse is also true).


The Perruchet effect "is potentially convincing evidence of unaware learning" (pg. 17).  It was observed that participants involved in conditioned stimulus-only trials faced a decline in conditioned response.  Participants involved in conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus trials were observed to increase conditioned response.  The Perruchet effect indicates that participants are more likely to have awareness when they expect a twist.  In later studies the Perruchet effect was induced through backward pairings, with the same behavioural outcomes.  Shanks notes that his review of literature plainly indicates further work is necessary to establish secure validity.  Devising tests to accurately predict unconscious learning has not been easy.


Other experimental procedures in implicit learning include artificial grammar learning, the learning of sequential dependencies in quickened reaction time settings, and the learning of contextual cues in visual search.


Sequence learning
In trials by Nissin and Bullemer a visual target was displayed in four locations, and the participants were asked to locate the target and press a button as fast as possible.  The target was programmed to move in an allocated sequence.  Participants were not aware of the sequence but learning was evident in response time.  Shanks questions that if participants can learn a target sequence, are they also aware of the sequence?  Several tests have been devised to assess awareness (e.g. reproducing the sequence post trial).  A large body of evidence reports "clear associations between learning and awareness" (pg.18).


Visual search and context cuing
Chun and Jiang devised a test that has familiar symbols in an unfamiliar context (e.g. the letter T in horizontal form) surrounded by a patterned sequence of distractors.  If participants learned the sequence, they would be able to accurately predict the target cue's appearance as evident in response time.  It was noted that participants may be unaware of the repetition of displays.  Later studies (2008) show that participants are in general aware of the repetition if prompted and assessed appropriately.  Smyth and Shanks ran trials to measure awareness and found that with 12 trials (sequence of displays) no evidence of awareness was obtained, but on trials with 48 displays reliability increased so above-chance performance was observed.  Shanks indicates that a common theme amongst this research is that awareness and implicit performance is largely uncorrelated.


Conclusions and future directions
Although the current fashion for learning appears to be heavily cognitive based unconscious (implicit) learning has become a substantial and distinct research topic.  Shanks states that the mind has two systems: one is automatic, implicit and nonrational while the other is slow, effortful, rational, explicit and conscious.  The first system presents itself as unconscious learning and the second uses inferential reasoning.  Shanks argues that it is questionable whether significant forms of learning can be transferred through automatic or unconscious processes.  Nor should it be assumed that only rational forms of learning can be reasoned out as is the case with retrospective revaluation that can be explained associatively or inferentially.  He comments "[i]t is plain that future research with more demanding tests of awareness will allow much firmer conclusions to be drawn about the limits of unconscious processing" (pg. 22).


Blocking has received considerable attention in research, and it can be observed from humans to molluscs although reasons for occurrence may be different.  In humans and rats, blocking is sensitive to manipulations of additivity.  Future work should be able to support dual-process theories that demonstrate qualitative differences more thoroughly.  Many typical experimental procedures involve meaningless stimuli (tones, lights) and Shanks suggests that studies over prolonged periods could establish expertise (e.g. table tennis experiments by Koedijker, Oudejans and Beek).


An alternative to dual-process perspectives comes from associative learning theory and connectionism in human cognition that provide key roles in associative processes.  Retrospective revaluation (the readjustment of cue weighting) "may result from activation and incremental learning within a simple network of neuron-like processing units" and "[a]lthough connectionist models are in principle consistent with unconscious learning, it is often assumed that stable states of activation within the brain, subject to selective attention, are precisely those states of which we are conscious" (pg. 22).


Shanks proposes that a priority of the research agenda should focus on gaining a more comprehensive understanding on the limits of associative principles when explaining additivity and its related effects on blocking.  Pretreatment designs have significant impact on demonstrating additivity and nonadditivity in cues although precise locus is unknown and will potentially feature prominently in future research.