Negative priming in the SRT task: Learning of irrelevant sequences is enhanced by concurrent learning of relevant sequences

We investigated negative priming (NP) in sequence learning, as demonstrated by Cock, Berry, and Buchner (2002). The NP effect in sequence learning refers to the observation that Serial Reaction Time performance becomes impaired when participants respond to a sequence they were previously ignoring. In Experiment 1, we established a NP effect with a complex second-order conditional sequence structure. Experiment 2 showed that NP occurs even when the irrelevant sequence is not synchronised with the relevant sequence. However, the results of Experiment 3 demonstrated that NP was absent when participants did not concurrently respond to a relevant sequence, while being exposed to the irrelevant sequence. These findings indicate that NP extends over complex forms of sequence learning, but requires concurrent learning of relevant sequences. We suggest that NP and the enhancement of (the expression of) learning of irrelevant sequences by concurrent learning of relevant sequences is guided by attentional processes.