This paper offers a detailed research proposal on the topic of the cognitive process of contextual cueing. More specifically, the research study will determine whether the cognitive strategy of contextual cueingùthe identification of a target by using the context as a guideùdemonstrates implicit or perceptual learning. In this paper, the concepts of implicit and perceptual learning will be examined concisely. Furthermore, research studies that involved the analysis of these types of learning will be presented. Most importantly, the research design of the study will be described in detail. This description will include the selection of the subjects, the research design and procedures, along with the data analyses. Finally, speculations about the results of the study will be presented, with suggestions for possible outcomes.
In spite of the decades of research on learning, researchers are still faced with the challenge of understanding how the human mind operates and learns. Although different types of learning have been coined to explain how knowledge is acquired, their uniqueness and difference from one another continues to be studied (Cleeremans, 1997). The most typical dichotomy that is frequently studied by researchers is explicit learning versus implicit learning. While explicit learning is associated with the conscious acquisition of knowledge (Cleeremans, 1997), implicit learning refers to the ability to acquire learning and perform tasks without the awareness of what is being learned (Green & Shanks, 1993).
Experimental studies comparing the relative effectiveness of explicit and implicit learning in performing a task are conducted by dividing the participants into a group that is informed about the learning and one that is simply told to perform the tasks. An example of this study is Dominey, Lelekov, Ventre-Dominey and Jeannerod's (1998) comparison of explicit and implicit learning in the surface and abst...