"This is driving me dotty": a new experimental method for studying sequential statistical learning

Tsitsopoulou, S.M., 2021. "This is driving me dotty": a new experimental method for studying sequential statistical learning. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

This thesis introduces a new experimental paradigm for exploring the cognitive mechanism of statistical learning (SL). SL refers to the ability of extracting statistical regularities and patterns implicitly from the sensory input and forming them into units of knowledge. Most of the methodologies used in the literature to investigate or assess the mechanism of SL, use tasks and measurements that assess the outcome of the learning process, rather than the process itself. Therefore, the new experimental paradigm introduced in this thesis, provides a new way of observing the SL mechanism while it operates, with the usage of a gaze contingent/time-displayed eye-tracking sequential SL task (on the visual domain). Once the new methodology is introduced and assessed across two different eye-trackers (Gazepoint GP3; EyeLink 1000 (SR Research Ltd., Mississauga, Canada)), it is applied to specific research contexts about the encoding process of sequences in SL and the effects of sequence length and mixtures of sequences lengths in sequential SL. The findings of this thesis support evidence for a hierarchical structure in the SL encoding process, where the last item of a sequence is better learned than the previous and so on. Additionally, it is suggested that sequences with shorter lengths (2 items) are learned faster than longer length sequences (4 items) in same length tasks. However, when the sequential SL occurs within mixed length sequences, longer sequences are facilitated from their coexistence with shorter sequences in the task, resulting in faster learning, while learning of shorter sequences is impeded by their coexistence with longer sequences in the task. A contextual evaluation of the two eye-tracking systems used in this thesis is described to justify the usage of low-cost equipment in experimental research. Finally, a critical discussion of the findings and its applications on educational and clinical areas is given.

Item Type: Thesis
Creators: Tsitsopoulou, S.M.
Contributors:
NameRoleNTU IDORCID
Jones, G.Thesis supervisorBLS3JONESGorcid.org/0000-0003-3867-9947
Torrance, M.Thesis supervisorPSY3TORRAMSorcid.org/0000-0002-5305-4315
Roeser, J.Thesis supervisorPSY3ROESEJorcid.org/0000-0002-4463-0923
Date: June 2021
Rights: The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions: Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by: Linda Sullivan
Date Added: 28 Nov 2023 11:10
Last Modified: 28 Nov 2023 11:10
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/50457

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