City Research Online

Abstract

Implicit (unconscious) learning ostensibly affects cognitive and social skills in both typical and atypical populations, such as those on the autism spectrum. Research into implicit learning in autism has yielded conflicting results, underscoring the need to explore factors that might influence their implicit learning. One such factor is processing style, specifically processing biases for either global (holistic) or local (detail-oriented) processing. In our experiment we investigated the potential role of processing differences in implicit (and explicit) learning performance in individuals with autism (n=20) and typically developing (TD) individuals (n=22), by using a Global-Local version of the Artificial Grammar Learning (AGL) task. Overall AGL performance and explicit knowledge yielded only a trend towards an interaction suggesting a greater global processing advantage in TD participants compared to participants with autism but no conclusive evidence. The above interaction was further observed in terms of implicit knowledge, with TD participants demonstrating higher levels of implicit structural knowledge compared to individuals with autism during global processing. Implicit knowledge between-group differences during local processing remain weak/inconclusive. Overall, our findings suggest interesting potential processing differences in the implicit learning between individuals with and without autism.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© The Authors, 2026. Published by Sage.
Publisher Keywords:	implicit learning, global vs local, artificial grammar learning, individual processing biases, autism
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1603 Secondary Education. High schools R Medicine > RC Internal medicine R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics
Departments:	School of Health & Medical Sciences School of Health & Medical Sciences > Department of Psychology & Neuroscience
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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