Conflicts between expected and actually performed behavior lead to verbal report of incidentally acquired sequential knowledge

C-SMB 2.0: Integrating over 25 years of motor sequencing research with the Discrete Sequence Production task

An exhaustive review is reported of over 25 years of research with the Discrete Sequence Production (DSP) task as reported in well over 100 articles. In line with the increasing call for theory development, this culminates into proposing the second version of the Cognitive framework of Sequential Motor Behavior (C-SMB 2.0), which brings together known models from cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and motor learning. This processing framework accounts for the many different behavioral results obtained with the DSP task and unveils important properties of the cognitive system. C-SMB 2.0 assumes that a versatile central processor (CP) develops multimodal, central-symbolic representations of short motor segments by repeatedly storing the elements of these segments in short-term memory (STM). Independently, the repeated processing by modality-specific perceptual and motor processors (PPs and MPs) and by the CP when executing sequences gradually associates successively used representations at each processing level. The high dependency of these representations on active context information allows for the rapid serial activation of the sequence elements as well as for the executive control of tasks as a whole. Speculations are eventually offered as to how the various cognitive processes could plausibly find their neural underpinnings within the intricate networks of the brain.

Cue predictiveness and uncertainty determine cue representation during visual statistical learning

This study investigated how humans process probabilistic-associated information when encountering varying levels of uncertainty during implicit visual statistical learning. A novel probabilistic cueing validation paradigm was developed to probe the representation of cues with high (75% probability), medium (50%), low (25%), or zero levels of predictiveness in response to preceding targets that appeared with high (75%), medium (50%), or low (25%) transitional probabilities (TPs). Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated a significant negative association between cue probe identification accuracy and cue predictiveness when these cues appeared after high-TP but not medium-TP or low-TP targets, establishing exploration-like cue processing triggered by lower-uncertainty rather than high-uncertainty inputs. Experiment 3 ruled out the confounding factor of probe repetition and extended this finding by demonstrating (1) enhanced representation of low-predictive and zero-predictive but not high-predictive cues across blocks after high-TP targets and (2) enhanced representation of high-predictive but not low-predictive and zero-predictive cues across blocks after low-TP targets for learners who exhibited above-chance awareness of cue-target transition. These results suggest that during implicit statistical learning, input characteristics alter cue-processing mechanisms, such that exploration-like and exploitation-like mechanisms are triggered by lower-uncertainty and higher-uncertainty cue-target sequences, respectively.

What triggers explicit awareness in implicit sequence learning? Implications from theories of consciousness

This article aims to continue the debate on how explicit, conscious knowledge can arise in an implicit learning situation. We review hitherto existing theoretical views and evaluate their compatibility with two current, successful scientific concepts of consciousness: The Global Workspace Theory and Higher-Order Thought Theories. In this context, we introduce the Unexpected Event Hypothesis (Frensch et al., Attention and implicit learning, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2003) in an elaborated form and discuss its advantage in explaining the emergence of conscious knowledge in an implicit learning situation.

The interplay between unexpected events and behavior in the development of explicit knowledge in implicit sequence learning

Some studies in implicit learning investigate the mechanisms by which implicitly acquired knowledge (e.g., learning a sequence of responses) becomes consciously aware. It has been suggested that unexpected changes in the own behavior can trigger search processes, of which the outcome then becomes aware. A consistent empirical finding is that participants who develop explicit knowledge show a sudden decrease in reaction times, when responding to sequential events. This so called RT-drop might indicate the point of time when explicit knowledge occurs. We investigated whether an RT-drop is a precursor for the development of explicit knowledge or the consequence of explicit knowledge. To answer this question, we manipulated in a serial reaction time task the timing of long and short stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOA). For some participants, the different SOAs were presented in blocks of either long or short SOAs, while for others, the SOAs changed randomly. We expected the participants who were given a blocked presentation to express an RT-drop because of the predictable timing. In contrast, randomly changing SOAs should hamper the expression of an RT-drop. We found that more participants in the blocked-SOA condition than in the random-SOA condition showed an RT-drop. Furthermore, the amount of explicit knowledge did not differ between the two conditions. The findings suggest that the RT-drop does not seem to be a presupposition to develop explicit knowledge. Rather, it seems that the RT-drop indicates a behavioral strategy shift as a consequence of explicit knowledge.

A multi-representation approach to the contextual interference effect: effects of sequence length and practice

The present study investigated the long-term benefit of Random-Practice (RP) over Blocked-Practice (BP) within the contextual interference (CI) effect for motor learning. We addressed the extent to which motor sequence length and practice amount factors moderate the CI effect given that previous reports, often in applied research, have reported no long-term advantage from RP. Based on predictions arising from the Cognitive framework of Sequential Motor Behavior (C-SMB) and using the Discrete Sequence Production (DSP) task, two experiments were conducted to compare limited and extended practice amounts of 4- and 7-key sequences under RP and BP schedules. Twenty-four-hour delayed retention performance confirmed the C-SMB prediction that the CI-effect occurs only with short sequences that receive little practice. The benefit of RP with limited practice was associated with overnight motor memory consolidation. Further testing with single-stimulus as well as novel and unstructured (i.e., random) sequences indicated that limited practice under RP schedules enhances both reaction and chunking modes of sequence execution with the latter mode benefitting from the development of implicit and explicit forms of sequence representation. In the case of 7-key sequences, extended practice with RP and BP schedules provided for equivalent development of sequence representations. Higher explicit awareness of sequence structures was associated with faster completion of practiced but also of novel and unstructured sequences.

Adaptive Changes in the Dynamics of Visual Attention With Extended Practice

Previous research indicates that visual attention can adapt to temporal stimulus patterns utilizing the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task. However, how the temporal dynamics of an attentional pulse adapt to temporal patterns has not been explored. We addressed this question by conducting an attentional component analysis on RSVP performance and explored whether changes in attentional dynamics were accompanied by explicit learning about predictable target timing. We utilized an RSVP task in which a target letter appeared either in two possible RSVP positions in fixed-timing conditions or in random positions over 1, 2, or 3 days of training. In a transfer phase, the target appeared in previously presented or new positions. Over 3 days of practice the target identification rate, efficacy, and precision of a putative attentional pulse increased. These changes reflected general learning in the RSVP task resulting in attentional dynamics more efficiently focused on the target. Although group performance effects did not support learning of fixed target positions, target identification rates and the measure of the efficacy of an attentional pulse at these positions were positively associated with explicit learning. The current study is the first to provide a detailed description of practice related adaptation of attentional dynamics and suggests that timing specific changes might be mediated by explicit temporal learning.

Can You See What I Hear?

Previous research on inattentional blindness (IB) has focused almost entirely on the visual modality. This study extends the paradigm by pairing visual with auditory stimuli. New visual and auditory stimuli were created to investigate the phenomenon of inattention in visual, auditory, and paired modality. The goal of the study was to assess to what extent the pairing of visual and auditory modality fosters the detection of change. Participants watched a video sequence and counted predetermined words in a spoken text. IB and inattentional deafness occurred in about 40% of participants when attention was engaged by this difficult (auditory) counting task. Most importantly, participants detected the changes considerably more often (88%) when the change occurred in both modalities rather than just one. One possible reason for the drastic reduction of IB or deafness in a multimodal context is that discrepancy between expected and encountered course of events proportionally increases across sensory modalities.

Differential Impact of Social and Monetary Reward on Procedural Learning and Consolidation in Aging and Its Structural Correlates

In young (n = 36, mean ± SD: 24.8 ± 4.5 years) and older (n = 34, mean ± SD: 65.1 ± 6.5 years) healthy participants, we employed a modified version of the Serial Reaction Time task to measure procedural learning (PL) and consolidation while providing monetary and social reward. Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), we additionally determined the structural correlates of reward-related motor performance (RMP) and PL. Monetary reward had a beneficial effect on PL in the older subjects only. In contrast, social reward significantly enhanced PL in the older and consolidation in the young participants. VBM analyses revealed that motor performance related to monetary reward was associated with larger grey matter volume (GMV) of the left striatum in the young, and motor performance related to social reward with larger GMV of the medial orbitofrontal cortex in the older group. The differential effects of social reward in young (improved consolidation) and both social and monetary rewards in older (enhanced PL) healthy subjects point to the potential of rewards for interventions targeting aging-associated motor decline or stroke-induced motor deficits.

Response-effects trigger the development of explicit knowledge

In implicit learning, task-redundant response-effects can enhance the development of explicit knowledge. Here, we investigated whether learning a fixed sequence of effects (stimuli occurring immediately after the participant's keypress, but are not mapped to the identity of the respective response) influence the development of explicit rather than implicit knowledge when these effects are afterwards mapped to the identity of the responses. We tested first, whether participants would learn a fixed sequence of effects in a serial reaction time task when these effects were not mapped to the identity of the responses. Next, we tested whether learning this effect sequence in advance would facilitate the development of explicit knowledge about a contingently mapped sequence of responses. The results showed that participants acquired implicit knowledge when confronted with only the effect sequence. Moreover, the further findings suggest that learning the effect sequence in advance led to the development of primarily explicit knowledge about a subsequently added response-location sequence. We interpret these results in light of the Unexpected-Event hypothesis: A sudden feeling of sense of agency is unexpected and triggers inference processes. PsycINFO classification codes: 2340, 2343.

Incidental covariation learning leading to strategy change

As they approach a traffic light, drivers and pedestrians monitor the color (instructed stimulus feature) and/or the position of the signal (covarying stimulus feature) for response selection. Many studies have pointed out that instructions can effectively determine the stimulus features used for response selection in a task. This leaves open whether and how practice with a correlating alternative stimulus feature can lead to a strategy change from an instructed to a learned variant of performing the task. To address this question, we instructed participants to respond to the position of a stimulus within a reference frame, at the same time, during task performance, an unmentioned second stimulus feature, the color, covaried with stimulus position and allowed the use of an alternative response strategy. To assess the impact of the non-instructed stimulus feature of color on response selection throughout practice, the spatial position of the stimulus was ambiguous on some trials. Group average increases in color usage were based on a mixture of (1) participants who, despite extended practice on the covariation, exclusively relied on the instructed stimulus feature and (2) those who abruptly started to rely heavily on stimulus color to select responses in ambiguous trials. When the instructed and uninstructed feature predicted different actions, choices were still biased by the uninstructed color feature, albeit more weakly. A second experiment showed that the influence of color generalized across frequently and infrequently presented combinations of position and color. Strategy changes were accompanied by awareness in both experiments. The results suggest that incidental covariation learning can trigger spontaneous voluntary strategy change involving a re-configuration of the instructed task set.

Training Motor Sequences: Effects of Speed and Accuracy Instructions

Participants practiced a fixed 3- and a fixed 6-key press sequence for 144 times each. In the speed group, they were instructed to execute their sequences fast without bothering much about errors while the accurate group was instructed to be careful and prevent errors. In the test phase, participants executed series of 3 and 6 responses (a) when all element-specific stimuli were displayed in the familiar order, (b) in response to just the familiar first stimulus, and (c) by responding to random stimuli. The speed instruction yielded stronger sequencing skill while the accuracy instruction developed stronger reaction skill.

Evaluative Conditioning as Memory-Based Judgment

The article proposes a view of evaluative conditioning (EC) as resulting from judgments based on learning instances stored in memory. It is based on the formal episodic memory model MINERVA 2. Additional assumptions specify how the information retrieved from memory is used to inform specific evaluative dependent measures. The present approach goes beyond previous accounts in that it uses a well-specified formal model of episodic memory; it is however more limited in scope as it aims to explain EC phenomena that do not involve reasoning processes. The article illustrates how the memory-based-judgment view accounts for several empirical findings in the EC literature that are often discussed as evidence for dual-process models of attitude learning. It sketches novel predictions, discusses limitations of the present approach, and identifies challenges and opportunities for its future development.

Enhanced transformation of incidentally learned knowledge into explicit memory by dopaminergic modulation

During incidental learning statistical regularities are extracted from the environment without the intention to learn. Acquired implicit memory of these regularities can affect behavior in the absence of awareness. However, conscious insight in the underlying regularities can also develop during learning. Such emergence of explicit memory is an important learning mechanism that is assumed to involve prediction errors in the striatum and to be dopamine-dependent. Here we directly tested this hypothesis by manipulating dopamine levels during incidental learning in a modified serial reaction time task (SRTT) featuring a hidden regular sequence of motor responses in a placebo-controlled between-group study. Awareness for the sequential regularity was subsequently assessed using cued generation and additionally verified using free recall. The results demonstrated that dopaminergic modulation nearly doubled the amount of explicit sequence knowledge emerged during learning in comparison to the placebo group. This strong effect clearly argues for a causal role of dopamine-dependent processing for the development of awareness for sequential regularities during learning.

Impact of Response Stimulus Interval on Transfer of Non-local Dependent Rules in Implicit Learning: An ERP Investigation

In the literature on implicit learning, controversy exists regarding whether the knowledge obtained from implicit sequence learning consists of context-bound superficial features or context-free structural rules. To explore the nature of implicit knowledge, event related potentials (ERP) recordings of participants’ performances in a non-local dependent transfer task under two response-stimulus-interval (RSI) conditions (250 and 750 ms) were obtained. In the behavioral data, a transfer effect was found in the 750 ms RSI condition but not in the 250 ms RSI condition, suggesting that a long RSI is the basis for the occurrence of non-local dependent transfer, as which might have provided enough reaction time for participants to process and capture the implicit rule. Moreover, P300 amplitude was found to be sensitive to the impact of RSI on the training process (i.e., the longer RSI elicited higher P300 amplitudes), while variations in both N200 (i.e., a significant increase) and P300 amplitudes (i.e., a significant decrease) were found to be related to the presence of a transfer effect. Our results supported the claim that implicit learning can involve abstract rule knowledge acquisition under an appropriate RSI condition, and that amplitude variation in early ERP components (i.e., N200 and P300) can be useful indexes of non-local dependent learning and transfer effects.

fMRI Investigation on Gradual Change of Awareness States in Implicit Sequence Learning

Awareness of implicit knowledge is a changing process. Previous studies have examined brain activation patterns corresponding to the start and end stages of implicit learning, but failed to reveal the gradual changing course of awareness in implicit learning. The present study explored brain activation changes corresponding to different awareness states elicited by two different stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA, 850 ms and 1350 ms) over the whole course of implicit sequence learning (i.e., divided into three phases), by using a process dissociation procedure (PDP) paradigm and the technique of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In the results, it was found that the 850 ms SOA elicited primarily an awareness state of unconsciousness, under which the frontal lobe was significantly activated during the early phase of implicit sequence learning, with its activation levels correlated positively to consciousness levels. In contrast, the 1350 ms SOA triggered predominantly an awareness state of consciousness, under which the activation levels of the inferior parietal lobule correlated positively to consciousness levels during the middle phase, and positively to consciousness levels as well as negatively to unconsciousness levels during the late phase of implicit sequence learning. Overall, the frontal lobe and inferior parietal lobule were found to play critical roles in mediating awareness states over the course of implicit sequence learning.

The Cognitive-Evolutionary Model of Surprise: A Review of the Evidence

Research on surprise relevant to the cognitive-evolutionary model of surprise proposed by Meyer, Reisenzein, and Schützwohl (1997) is reviewed. The majority of the assumptions of the model are found empirically supported. Surprise is evoked by unexpected (schema-discrepant) events and its intensity is determined by the degree if schema-discrepancy, whereas the novelty and the valence of the eliciting events probably do not have an independent effect. Unexpected events cause an automatic interruption of ongoing mental processes that is followed by an attentional shift and attentional binding to the events, which is often followed by causal and other event analysis processes and by schema revision. The facial expression of surprise postulated by evolutionary emotion psychologists has been found to occur rarely in surprise, for as yet unknown reasons. A physiological orienting response marked by skin conductance increase, heart rate deceleration, and pupil dilation has been observed to occur regularly in the standard version of the repetition-change paradigm of surprise induction, but the specificity of these reactions as indicators of surprise is controversial. There is indirect evidence for the assumption that the feeling of surprise consists of the direct awareness of the schema-discrepancy signal, but this feeling, or at least the self-report of surprise, is also influenced by experienced interference. In contrast, facial feedback probably does contribute substantially to the feeling of surprise and the evidence for the hypothesis that surprise is affected by the difficulty of explaining an unexpected event is, in our view, inconclusive. Regardless of how the surprise feeling is constituted, there is evidence that it has both motivational and informational effects. Finally, the prediction failure implied by unexpected events sometimes causes a negative feeling, but there is no convincing evidence that this is always the case, and we argue that even if it were so, this would not be a sufficient reason for regarding this feeling as a component, rather than as an effect of surprise.

Action-effects enhance explicit sequential learning

Different studies have shown that action-effect associations seem to enhance implicit learning of motor sequences. In a recent study (Haider et al., Conscious Cognit 26:145-161, 2014), we found indications that action-effect learning might play a special role in acquiring explicit knowledge within an implicit learning situation. The current study aims at directly manipulating the action-effect contingencies in a Serial Reaction Time Task and examining its impact on explicit sequence knowledge. For this purpose, we created a situation in which the participants' responses led to a melodic tone sequence. For one group, these effect tones were contingently bound to the sequential responses and immediately followed the key press; for the second group, the tones were delayed by 400 ms. For a third group, the tones also followed the response immediately and resulted in the same melody but were not contingently bound to the responses. A fourth control group received no effect tones at all. Only the group that experienced contingent effect tones that directly followed the response showed an increase in explicit sequence knowledge. The results are discussed in terms of the multi-modal structure of action-effect associations and the ideomotor principle of action control.

The Emergence of Explicit Knowledge in a Serial Reaction Time Task: The Role of Experienced Fluency and Strength of Representation

The Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT) is an important paradigm to study the properties of unconscious learning processes. One specifically interesting and still controversially discussed topic are the conditions under which unconsciously acquired knowledge becomes conscious knowledge. The different assumptions about the underlying mechanisms can contrastively be separated into two accounts: single system views in which the strengthening of associative weights throughout training gradually turns implicit knowledge into explicit knowledge, and dual system views in which implicit knowledge itself does not become conscious. Rather, it requires a second process which detects changes in performance and is able to acquire conscious knowledge. In a series of three experiments, we manipulated the arrangement of sequential and deviant trials. In an SRTT training, participants either received mini-blocks of sequential trials followed by mini-blocks of deviant trials (22 trials each) or they received sequential and deviant trials mixed randomly. Importantly the number of correct and deviant transitions was the same for both conditions. Experiment 1 showed that both conditions acquired a comparable amount of implicit knowledge, expressed in different test tasks. Experiment 2 further demonstrated that both conditions differed in their subjectively experienced fluency of the task, with more fluency experienced when trained with mini-blocks. Lastly, Experiment 3 revealed that the participants trained with longer mini-blocks of sequential and deviant material developed more explicit knowledge. Results are discussed regarding their compatibility with different assumptions about the emergence of explicit knowledge in an implicit learning situation, especially with respect to the role of metacognitive judgements and more specifically the Unexpected-Event Hypothesis.

A Neurocognitive Framework for Human Creative Thought

We are an intensely creative species. Creativity is the fountainhead of our civilizations and a defining characteristic of what makes us human. But for all its prominence at the apex of human mental faculties, we know next to nothing about how brains generate creative ideas. With all previous attempts to tighten the screws on this vexed problem unsuccessful – right brains, divergent thinking, defocused attention, default mode network, alpha enhancement, prefrontal activation, etc. (Dietrich and Kanso, 2010) – the neuroscientific study of creativity finds itself in a theoretical arid zone that has perhaps no equal in psychology. We propose here a general framework for a fresh attack on the problem and set it out under 10 foundational concepts. Most of the ideas we favor are part and parcel of the standard conceptual toolbox of cognitive neuroscience but their combination and significance to creativity are original. By outlining, even in such broad strokes, the theoretical landscape of cognitive neuroscience as it relates to creative insights, we hope to bring into clear focus the key enabling factors that are likely to have a hand in computing ideational combinations in the brain.

Increased Performance Variability as a Marker of Implicit/Explicit Interactions in Knowledge Awareness

Only some, but not all, individuals who practice tasks with dual structure, overt and covert, are able to comprehend consciously a hidden regularity. The formation of implicit representations of regularity has been proposed to be critical for subsequent awareness. However, explicit knowledge also has been predicted by the activation of executive control systems during task encoding. The present study analyzed performance patterns in participants who could comprehend task regularity and those who could not at delayed recall. Specifically, the role of practice-based knowledge of sequence for individual awareness was focused on. A lateralized variant of the visual serial response time task (SRTT) comprising structured and random blocks was practiced in implicit conditions by 109 participants before and after 10-h retention, with explicit knowledge about covert sequence tested thereafter. Sequence learning was quantified using the normalized difference between response speed in regular and subsequent random blocks. Patterns of performance dynamics were evaluated using response speed, response variability, and error rate. Major results demonstrate that (1) All participants who became aware of the sequence (solvers), gained practice-based sequence knowledge at learning or after retention, (2) Such knowledge also was accumulated during learning by participants who remained fully unaware about covert task structure, (3) Only in explicit solvers, however, was sequence-specific learning accompanied by a prominent increase in performance variability. (4) Specific features and dynamics of performance patterns distinguished different cognitive modes of SRTT processing, each of which supported subsequent knowledge awareness. It is concluded that a behavioral precursor of sequence awareness is the combination of speeded sequence processing and increased performance variability, pointing to an interaction between implicit and explicit processing systems. These results may contribute to refine the evaluation of online and offline learning of tasks with dual structure, and to extend understanding of increased behavioral variability in both normal and pathological conditions.

Neurocognitive mechanisms of statistical-sequential learning: what do event-related potentials tell us?

Statistical-sequential learning (SL) is the ability to process patterns of environmental stimuli, such as spoken language, music, or one's motor actions, that unfold in time. The underlying neurocognitive mechanisms of SL and the associated cognitive representations are still not well understood as reflected by the heterogeneity of the reviewed cognitive models. The purpose of this review is: (1) to provide a general overview of the primary models and theories of SL, (2) to describe the empirical research - with a focus on the event-related potential (ERP) literature - in support of these models while also highlighting the current limitations of this research, and (3) to present a set of new lines of ERP research to overcome these limitations. The review is articulated around three descriptive dimensions in relation to SL: the level of abstractness of the representations learned through SL, the effect of the level of attention and consciousness on SL, and the developmental trajectory of SL across the life-span. We conclude with a new tentative model that takes into account these three dimensions and also point to several promising new lines of SL research.

Data-driven sequence learning or search: What are the prerequisites for the generation of explicit sequence knowledge?

In incidental sequence learning situations, there is often a number of participants who can report the task-inherent sequential regularity after training. Two kinds of mechanisms for the generation of this explicit knowledge have been proposed in the literature. First, a sequence representation may become explicit when its strength reaches a certain level (Cleeremans, 2006), and secondly, explicit knowledge may emerge as the result of a search process that is triggered by unexpected events that occur during task processing and require an explanation (the unexpected-event hypothesis; Haider & Frensch, 2009). Our study aimed at systematically exploring the contribution of both mechanisms to the generation of explicit sequence knowledge in an incidental learning situation. We varied the amount of specific sequence training and inserted unexpected events into a 6-choice serial reaction time task. Results support the unexpected-event view, as the generation of explicit sequence knowledge could not be predicted by the representation strength acquired through implicit sequence learning. Rather sequence detection turned out to be more likely when participants were shifted to the fixed repeating sequence after training than when practicing one and the same fixed sequence without interruption. The behavioral effects of representation strength appear to be related to the effectiveness of unexpected changes in performance as triggers of a controlled search.

Response-mode shifts during sequence learning of macaque monkeys

Incidental sequence learning has been conceptualized as involving a shift from stimulus-based to plan-based performance (e.g., Tubauet et al. in Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 136:43-63, 2007). We analyzed the response time (RT) data of two macaque monkeys that were trained for thousands of trials on a sequential reaching task in a study by Matsuzaka et al. in Journal of Neurophysiology 97, 1819-1832 (2007). The animals learned to respond predictively to a repeating 3-element sequence. During a transitional period, RT distributions were bimodal, indicating that the animals alternated between two processing modes. An analysis of trial-to-trial mode shifting probabilities provided preliminary evidence for a strategic process.

The emergence of explicit memory during learning

In incidental learning situations, contingencies are extracted from the environment without the intention to learn and can change behavior without awareness for the extracted regularity. The development of explicit access to the learned regularity is an important learning mechanism that is rarely examined. With a series of behavioral, electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, we were able to show that the emergence of awareness for a hidden regularity is accompanied by an increase in neural activity and in high-frequency coupling between distant brain areas as observed with a time-frequency resolved EEG analysis. More importantly, the increase in neural coupling was observed before awareness for the learned material was established behaviorally. In addition, coupling increases were paralleled by an fMRI-signal increase in the ventral striatum and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex directly preceding the emergence of awareness. The involvement of this system, which has already been linked to the processing of predictions and prediction errors, indicates the relevance of a reinforcement signal to generate awareness for the learned contingencies. Thus, our data provide direct evidence for the necessity of large-scale coupling and the evaluation of a predictive stimulus value as the basis for a transition from implicit to explicit memory.