Attention in the representation of sequence: Experiment and theory

Cohen, Ivry and Keele (1990) showed that sequences of events involving some unique events could be learned in the presence of distraction and without awareness. In contrast, sequences in which all events are repeated in different orders in different parts of the sequence require attention. Cohen et al. hypothesized that the latter type of sequence requires division into parts and the assignment of representational codes in hierarchic fashion. These notions are tested in simulations involving a connectionist model developed by Jordan (1990).