Abstract
Previous studies (e.g. Nisbett, 2003) have indicated strong cross cultural differences in conscious perception, memory and reasoning, such that Eastern people have a preference for a more global perspective and Western people for a more analytical perspective. We investigate whether these biases also apply to unconscious cognition, specifically to implicit learning i.e. the acquisition of unconscious knowledge. Tanaka et al (2008) investigated the role of selective attention in implicit learning, using GLOCAL strings-that is, chains of compound global and local letters. Using Japanese participants, they found an implicit learning advantage for structures presented globally rather than locally. The present study investigated Japanese and English participants asked to freely attend to the GLOCAL strings. The results indicated implicit learning only at the global and not the local level for Japanese, but equal learning of both levels by English. Cultural biases strongly affect the type of unconscious knowledge people acquire.
