Implicit and explicit motor learning in children with and without Down’s syndrome

This paper reports a study investigating the degree of dissociation between performance shown by children with or without Down’s syndrome (DS), matched on non-verbal MA-level, following an implicit or explicit learning procedure. Task-specific factors were tightly controlled using the same task for both modes of learning. The implicit learning task was based on the manipulation of a graphic production principle. Our procedure trained participants to reverse the principle. In the explicit task, participants had to learn the two rules that account for this reversed principle. Whether they were trained implicitly or explicitly, participants then performed the same test in which the impact of their training was assessed. Children with DS performed as well as controls in the implicit learning condition. They benefited less from the explicit learning condition than controls. They appeared to be impaired in the ability to recollect explicit information about the implicit training situation in comparison with controls. These results are discussed in the light of the current literature on the implicit and explicit modes of learning, and hypotheses are formulated about specific information processes that may be impaired in individuals with DS.