The automatisation of learning: cognitive mechanisms, neural bases and implications for developmental learning disorders. A literature review
Enrico Ghidoni
There are different forms of learning and in recent years psychology and neuroscience have attempted to analyse the cognitive mechanisms and the neural bases of different types of learning processes. Starting from the distinction between automatic and controlled processes, dichotomous categories of learning have been proposed. The dichotomies between explicit processes (present to consciousness) and implicit ones (occurring without the subject’s awareness) or between declarative memory (which can be expressed verbally or otherwise) and procedural memory (which manifests itself in the execution of various activities) are not, however, able to explain all the complexities of learning phenomena and its alterations. The application of these interpretative categories to dysfunctional situations such as specific learning disabilities is a very exciting field of research. Specifically, the theories of procedural deficit or automatisation deficit have been proposed as a mechanism at the base of neurodevelopmental disorders, and could be a source of major impact on educational practices, in a new integrative view of knowledge from neurosciences, psychology and educational sciences. This review analyses a portion of the vast literature on this subject, trying to draw conclusive considerations but also highlighting the persistent critical areas of the dynamic relationships between different forms of learning, their different roles depending on the type of materials and tasks (e.g. reading vs. language), and the persistent lack of explanation of the intermediate steps in the chain of events leading up to the disorder, all areas that require further research.
Keywords
Automatisation, learning, implicit memory, procedural memory, cerebellum, specific learning disabilities.