The article "Characteristics of Dissociable Human Learning Systems" by David R. Shanks and Mark F. St. John examines the evidence for the existence of independent explicit and implicit learning systems in humans. The authors review various experimental paradigms, including subliminal learning, conditioning, artificial grammar learning, instrumental learning, and reaction times in sequence learning, to evaluate the claim that unconscious learning occurs without concurrent awareness. They find limited support for unconscious rule induction or the unconscious learning of any other type of information across these paradigms. However, they do find evidence for a dissociation between a rule-induction system and an instance-memory system, suggesting that learning can be categorized into slow, effortful hypothesis testing and fast, efficient memorization of instances and fragments. The authors also discuss the methodology used to test for unconscious learning, highlighting the challenges and limitations of the dissociation paradigm. They argue that the lack of clear evidence for unconscious learning in most studies suggests that it may not be feasible. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between instance and rule learning as a meaningful way to taxonomize human learning, and discusses computational models of these two forms of learning.The article "Characteristics of Dissociable Human Learning Systems" by David R. Shanks and Mark F. St. John examines the evidence for the existence of independent explicit and implicit learning systems in humans. The authors review various experimental paradigms, including subliminal learning, conditioning, artificial grammar learning, instrumental learning, and reaction times in sequence learning, to evaluate the claim that unconscious learning occurs without concurrent awareness. They find limited support for unconscious rule induction or the unconscious learning of any other type of information across these paradigms. However, they do find evidence for a dissociation between a rule-induction system and an instance-memory system, suggesting that learning can be categorized into slow, effortful hypothesis testing and fast, efficient memorization of instances and fragments. The authors also discuss the methodology used to test for unconscious learning, highlighting the challenges and limitations of the dissociation paradigm. They argue that the lack of clear evidence for unconscious learning in most studies suggests that it may not be feasible. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between instance and rule learning as a meaningful way to taxonomize human learning, and discusses computational models of these two forms of learning.