Results of sequence learning and consolidation in the OSA and control group.

<p><b>A</b>) Results of sequence-specific and general skill learning in OSA and control group in Session 1 and Session 2: Although the OSA group was generally slower in Session 1, both groups showed significant sequence-specific and general skill learning. There were no differences in learning between the groups; the pattern of learning was similar in the OSA and control groups. <b>B</b>) Results of offline changes in sequence-specific learning in OSA and control group: The differences between the low and high frequency triplets indicate sequence-specific learning. There was a decrease in sequence-specific knowledge, such that the learning index of the first epochs of Session 2 was significantly smaller compared to the last epochs of Session 1. There were no significant differences between the OSA and control groups. <b>C</b>) The results of offline changes in general skill learning: the differences in overall reaction time between the last epoch of Session 1 and the first epoch of Session 2 regardless of triplet type show general skill learning. There was a trend of improvement in general skill learning. The OSA group showed no offline general skill learning, while the control group showed better performance (smaller RTs) at the beginning of Session 2 compared to the end of Session 1. Error bars indicate SEM.</p

Schematic design of the experiment.

<p>The presentation order of the conditions was counterbalanced between subjects. In the ASRT task blocks 1, 8 and 15 were single task (ST) blocks without parallel task, whereas in other blocks (2–7; 9–14) our subjects had to perform one of the three parallel tasks as well (DT condition).</p

Figure 2

<p>A) Mean RTs of sequence-specific learning (difference between high and low frequency triplets) in probe blocks of the ASRT task for all dual task conditions. There was significant sequence-specific learning in the Word and Math condition, but no learning in the Sentence condition. B) Error rates in parallel task during dual task. There were significantly more errors in the Math condition than in the other two conditions. C) Mean RTs in dual task blocks of the ASRT for all dual task conditions. The Math condition was the most difficult: the RTs differed significantly from the Word and Sentence conditions, while the latter two did not differ significantly from each other. D) Mean accuracy (ACC) in dual task blocks of the ASRT for all dual task conditions. The Math condition was the most difficult: participants were less accurate in the Math condition than in the Sentence condition, while the Word-Math and Word-Sentence conditions did not differ significantly from each other. Error bars indicate standard errors of the mean (SEM).</p

Results of the experiment.

<p>RTs of Session 1 (epoch 1–4) and Session 2 (epoch 5) for ASD (A), IQ-matched (B) and AGE-matched (C) control groups. The RT differences between the high (open squares) and low frequency (filled squares) triplets indicate sequence-specific learning, whereas the decrease of reaction time (regardless of triplet type) indicates general skill learning. In Session 1 all groups showed significant sequence-specific and general skill learning. D) Offline changes of sequence-specific knowledge for all groups. The sequence learning effect (SLE) is the RT on low frequency minus RT on high frequency trials; this effect on the last epoch of Session 1 (Epoch 4) does not differ significantly from that of the first epoch of Session 2 (Epoch 5). E) Offline changes of general skill for all groups; there was no difference in overall RT between Epoch 4 and 5 for any group. Error bars indicate SEM.</p

General data of participants.

<p>The IQ-matched control group was significantly younger than the other two groups; and the mean IQ of the AGE-matched control group was the highest (* - p<0.05). The right-most column shows the number of participants in each group who showed significant sequence learning (determined by greater than zero RT difference in high minus low frequency triplets in the last epoch of Session 1).</p

Regular and irregular nouns in the plural production task.

<p>Regular and irregular nouns in the plural production task.</p

Experiment design.

<p>There were two sessions in the experiment: a Learning Phase (Session 1) followed by a Testing Phase (Session 2) after a 16-hour delay.</p

Regular and irregular verbs in the past tense production task.

<p>Regular and irregular verbs in the past tense production task.</p

Mean accuracy (a) and mean response times (b) for the regular and irregular inflected forms of the plural and past tense production tasks.

<p>In both tasks participants were more accurate and faster at producing regular than irregular inflected forms. Error bars represent Standard Error of the Mean (SEM).</p