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Updated May 10, 2006

Overview of my research program.

The conventional cognitive framework rests on the existence of a powerful cognitive unconscious. Indeed, most psychological models heavily rely on the possibility of performing manipulations and transformations of unconscious representations using algorithms that are unable to operate while accommodating the functional constraints of conscious thought. However, a few researchers, from William James to Don Dulany (1991, 1997; see also Searle, 1992) have postulated that the only representations people create and manipulate are those which form the momentary phenomenal experience. Most of my research is aimed at exploring the power and the limits of this thought-provoking view.

 A problem with this alternative view is that it leaves unexplained why the phenomenal experience of adult people consists of perceptions and representations of the world that are generally isomorphic with the world structure. Our proposal, with Annie Vinter, a Professor of developmental psychology in Dijon, is that this isomorphism is the end-product of a progressive organization that emerges thanks to elementary associative processes, which take the conscious representations themselves as the stuff on which they operate. We summarize this thesis in the concept of Self-Organizing Consciousness (SOC). The most comprehensive presentation of this thesis is in a BBS target paper dating back from 2002, but more "digestible" presentations have been published since then (for instance in Psychological Research, 2005, and in several book's chapters).

We have provided evidence of self-organization in the context of an experimental situation that concerns the progressive extraction of words from an artificial language presented as an unsegmented speech flow. Our approach is supported by a computer-implemented model, PARSER, the details of which are presented in the Journal of Memory and Language, 1998. A remarkable feature of PARSER is that the only representations generated by the model closely match the conscious representations people may have when performing the task. Provided that one accepts a few simple assumptions about the properties of the world that are likely to capture subjects' attention, the rationale underlying PARSER may be extended to the discovery of the relevant units which form natural language and the physical world, and also accounts for word-object mapping.

The same principles may be applied to more complex aspects of the world structure. The SOC framework can account for some forms of behavior seemingly based on the unconscious knowledge of the syntactical structure of the surrounding environment. This claim, which was originally stimulated by the literature on implicit learning of arbitrary structures, finds some echoes in the literature on language processing (notably in the so-called distributional approaches), problem solving (for instance in the computation/ representation trade-off proposed by Clark & Thornton, 1997), incubation (e.g. Mandler, 1994), decision making, and automatism (notably in the instance-based models, as proposed by Logan, e.g.:1988, and Tzelgov, e.g.: 1997). The SOC framework, in conjunction with simple additional hypotheses, also accounts for transfer between event patterns across surface features.

Our analysis opens to the surprising conclusion that there is no need for the concepts of unconscious representations and knowledge and, a fortiori, for the notion of unconscious inferences. Our dynamical framework is more parsimonious than the prevalent conceptions in cognitive and developmental sciences because it manages to account for very sophisticated adaptive functions while respecting (and even taking advantage of ) the constraints inherent to the conscious/attentional system, such as limited capacity, seriality of processing, and quick forgetting.

For an on-line introduction to this approach, click here.

Dissemination of knowledge (recent publications  in French):

Pacton, S. & Perruchet, P. (sous presse). L’apprentissage implicite: du labo à l’école. In P. Dessus & E. Gentaz (Eds), Comprendre les apprentissages, Vol 2, Paris, Dunod. (pdf 120Ko)

Perruchet, P. (2006). Discordes autour de l'acquisition du langage. Les dossiers de La Recherche, 22, 18-22. (pdf 497Ko)

Perruchet, P., & Peereman, R (2005).  Apprendre sa langue maternelle: une question de statistique? Pour la Science, 327, 82-87. (pdf 2250Ko)

Perruchet, P. (2003). Apprendre, ça ne se commande pas. La Recherche, 366, 47-50. (pdf 715Ko)

Perruchet, P. (2002). Mémoire et apprentissage implicites: Perspectives introductives. In S. Vinter & P. Perruchet (Eds.) Mémoires et apprentissages implicites. Presses Universitaires Franc-Comtoises (pp. 5-22) (pdf 2160Ko)

Main Publications:

Chambaron, S., Ginhac, D., Ferrel-Chapus, C., & Perruchet, P. (2006). Implicit learning of a repeated segment in continuous tracking: A reappraisal. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59A, 845-854. (pdf 385Ko)

Chambaron, S., Ginhac, D., & Perruchet, P. (in press). Is Learning in SRT Tasks Robust Across Procedural Variations? In Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society  (pdf 160Ko)

Perruchet, P., Cleeremans, A., & Destrebecqz, A. (in press). Dissociating the effects of automatic activation and explicit expectancy on reaction times in a simple associative learning task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. (pdf 213Ko)

Perruchet, P., & Gallego, J. (2006). Do dogs know related rates rather than optimization? The College Mathematics Journal, 37, 16-18. (pdf 219Ko)

Perruchet, P., & Pacton, S. (2006). Implicit learning and statistical learning: Two approaches, one phenomenon. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10, 233-238 (pdf 148Ko)

Perruchet, P., Peereman, R. & Tyler, M.D. (in press).  Do we need algebraic-like computations? A reply to Bonatti, Peña, Nespor, and Mehler  Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, (pdf 114Ko).(For a more detailed reply: pdf 98Ko)

Perruchet, P., Rey, A., Hivert, E., & Pacton, S. (in press). Do distractors interfere with memory for study pairs in associative recognition? Memory and Cognition. (pdf 76Ko)

Pacton, S., Fayol, M., Perruchet, P. (2005) . Children's implicit learning of Graphotactic and Morphological regularities in French. Child Development, 76, 324-339. (pdf 153Ko)

Perruchet, P. (2005). Statistical approaches to language acquisition and the self-organizing consciousness: A reversal of perspective. Psychological Research, 69, 316-329. (pdf 301Ko)

Perruchet, P., & Rey, A. (2005). Does the mastery of center-embedded linguistic structures distinguish humans from nonhuman primates? Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 12, 307-313. (pdf 164Ko)

Barrouillet, P., Camos, V., Perruchet, P., & Seron, X. (2004). ADAPT: A Developmental, Asemantic, and Procedural model for Transcoding from verbal to Arabic numerals. Psychological Review, 111, 368-394.(pdf 239Ko)

Peereman R., Dubois Dunilac, N.*, Perruchet, P.,& Content, A. (2004). Distributional properties of language and sub-syllabic processing units. In: P. Bonin, (Ed.), Mental Lexicon. NY: NovaScience Publishers. .(pdf 2981Ko)

Perruchet, P. & Pacton, S. (2004). Qu'apportent à la pédagogie les travaux de laboratoire sur l'apprentissage implicite? L'année Psychologique, 104, 121-146. (pdf 3204Ko)

Perruchet, P. & Peereman, R. (2004). The exploitation of distributional information in syllable processing. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 17, 97-119 (pdf 22Ko)

Perruchet, P., Tyler, M.T., Galland, N., & Peereman, R. (2004).  Learning non-adjacent dependencies: No need for algebraic-like computations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 573-583. (pdf 194Ko).

Perruchet, P. , Chambaron, S., & Ferrel-Chapus, C. (2003). Learning from implicit learning literature: Comment on Shea, Wulf, Whitacre, and Park (2001). The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56A, 769-778. (pdf 77Ko)

Perruchet, P. , Reber, R. (2003). Why untrained control groups provide invalid baselines: A reply to Dienes & Altmann. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56A, 125-130. (pdf 59Ko)

Perruchet, P., & Vinter, A. (2003). Linking learning and consciousness: The self-Organizing Consciousness (SOC) model. In A. Cleeremans (Ed.). The unity of consciousness: Binding, integration, and dissociation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (pdf 2066Ko)

Reber, R., & Perruchet, P. (2003). The use of control groups in artificial grammar learning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56A, 97-116. (pdf 119Ko)

Pacton, S., Fayol, M. & Perruchet, P. (2002). Acquérir l’orthographe du Français : apprentissages implicite et explicite. In A. Florin & J. Morais (Eds). La maîtrise du langage. Rennes, Presses Universitaires de Rennes (pp. 95-118)

Pacton, S., Fayol, M., & Perruchet, P. (2002)  The acquisition of untaught orthographic regularities in French. In: L. Verhoeven, C. Erlbro & P. Reitsma (Eds.), Precursors of functional literacy. Dordrecht: Kluwer. (pp.121-137)

Perruchet, P. & Vinter, A. (2002). The Self-Organizing Consciousness (Target paper). Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25, 297- 330. (pdf 746Ko)

Perruchet, P. & Vinter, A. (2002). The Self-Organizing Consciousness as an alternative model of the mind (Authors' response). Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25, 360-388. (pdf 746Ko)

Perruchet, P. & Vinter, A. (2002). The Self-Organizing Consciousness: A Framework for Implicit Learning. In R. French & A. Cleeremans (Eds.). Implicit Learning and Consciousness: An Empirical, Philosophical and computational Consensus in the Making, Psychology Press (pp. 41-67) (pdf 3570Ko)

Perruchet, P. & Vinter, A., Pacteau, C., Gallego, J. (2002). The formation of structurally relevant units in artificial grammar learning . The Quarterly Journal of experimental Psychology, 55A, 485-503. (pdf 240Ko)

Shanks, D.A., & Perruchet, P. (2002), Dissociation between priming and recognition in the expression of sequential knowledge. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 9, 362-367. (pdf 191Ko)

Vinter, A., & Perruchet, P. (2002). Implicit motor learning through observational training in adults and children. Memory and Cognition, 30, 256-261.

Ergis, A.M., Meulemans, T., Hanin, D., Vinter, A., Perruchet, P., Boisse, M.F., & Bachoud-Levi, A.C. (2001). Apprentissage de procédures dans la maladie de Huntington: Une étude basée sur le "Start-Rotation Principle". Revue de Neuropsychologie, 11, 121-122.

Pacton, S., Perruchet, P., Fayol, M., Cleeremans, A. (2001). Implicit learning in real world context: The case of orthographic regularities. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 401-426. (pdf 5983Ko)

Bazin, N., Perruchet, P., Hardy-Bayle, M-C., & Féline, A. (2000). Context-dependent information processing in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 45, 93-101.

Vinter, A., & Perruchet, P. (2000). Implicit learning in children is not related to age: Evidence from drawing behavior. Child Development, 71, 1223-1240.

Chantome, M., Perruchet, P., Hasboun, D., Dormond, D., Sahel, M., Sourour, N., Zouaoui, A., Marsault, C., & Duyme, M. (1999). Is there a negative correlation between explicit memory and hippocampal volume? Neuroimage, 10, 589-595. (pdf 378Ko)

Pacton, S., Fayol, M., & Perruchet, P. (1999). Learning to spell French: Regular orthographic patterns. Langue Française, 124, 23-39.

Vinter, A. & Perruchet, P. (1999) Isolating unconscious influences: The neutral parameter procedure. Quarterly Journal of experimental Psychology, 52A, 857-875. (pdf 257Ko)

Vinter, A. & Perruchet, P. (1999). What about consciousness during learning? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 176

Bigand, E., Perruchet, P., & Boyer, M. (1998). Implicit learning of artificial grammar of musical timbres. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive/ Current Psychology of Cognition, 17, 577-600.

Denot-Ledunois, G. Vardon, Perruchet, P., & Gallego, J. (1998). The effect of attentional load on the breathing pattern in children. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 29, 13-21.

Denot-Ledunois, S., Vardon, G., Perruchet, P., & Gallego, J. (1998). Effects of voluntary changes in breathing frequency on respiratory comfort. Biological Psychology, 49, 71-82

Meulemans, T, Van Der Linden, M, & Perruchet, P. (1998). Implicit Sequence Learning in Children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 69, 199-221. (pdf 135Ko)

Nicolas, S., & Perruchet, P. (1998). La mémoire implicite: Une vue d'ensemble. Psychologie Française, 43, 3-12.

Nsegbe, E, Vardon, G., Perruchet, P., Dauger, C., Gaultier, C., & Gallego, J.. (1998). Classical conditioning of ventilatory responses to hypoxia in rats. Behavioral Neuroscience, 112, 1393-1401.

Perruchet, P. , & Nicolas, S. (1998). L'apprentissage implicite: Un débat théorique. Psychologie Française, 43, 13-25. (pdf 2364Ko)

Perruchet, P., & Vinter, A. (1998). Feature creation as a by-product of attentional processing.Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 33-34

Perruchet, P., & Vinter, A. (1998). Learning and development: The implicit knowledge assumption reconsidered. In M. A. Stadler & P. Frensch (Eds.), Handbook of Implicit Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage publications (pp. 495-531). (pdf 1725Ko)

Perruchet, P., & Vinter, A. (1998). PARSER: A model for word segmentation. Journal of Memory and Language, 39, 246-263. (pdf 128Ko)

Meulemans, T., Van der Linden, M., & Perruchet, P. (1997). Apprentissage implicite et temps de réaction sériel: Une perspective développementale. Revue de Neuropsychiatrie de l'Enfance et de l'Adolescence, 45, 384-386.

Nsegbe, E., Vardon, G., Perruchet, P., & Gallego, J. (1997). Classic conditioning of ventilatory response in rats. Journal of Applied Physiology, 83, 1174-1183, 1997.

Perruchet, P. (1997). Le rôle de l'attention dans les apprentissages implicites. In D. Mellier & A. Vom Hofe,  Attention et Controle cognitif, Rouen, Presse Universitaire de Rouen (pp. 19-27).

 Perruchet, P., Bigand, E., & Benoit-Gonin, F. (1997). The emergence of explicit knowledge during the early phase of learning in sequential reaction time tasks. Psychological Research, 60, 4-13. (pdf 2000Ko)

Perruchet, P., & Gallego, J. (1997) A subjective unit formation account of implicit learning.  in Berry, D. (Ed.), How Implicit is Implicit Learning? Oxford, Oxford University Press (pp. 124-161).

Perruchet, P.,  Pacteau, C., & Gallego, J. (1997). Abstraction of covariations in incidental learning and covariation bias. British Journal of Psychology, 88, 441-458. (pdf 2601Ko)

Perruchet, P., Vinter, A., & Gallego, J. (1997). Implicit learning shapes new conscious percepts and representations. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 4, 43-48. (pdf 69Ko)

Vinter, A., & Perruchet, P. (1997). Relational problems are not fully solved by a temporal sequence of statistical learning episodes. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 20, 82

Bazin, N., & Perruchet, P. (1996). Implicit and explicit associative memory in patients with schizophrenia.Schizophrenia Research, 22, 241-248

Bazin, N., Perruchet, P., & Feline, A. (1996). Mood congruence effect in explicit and implicit memory tasks: A comparison between depressed patients, schizophrenic patients, and controls. European Psychiatry, 11, 390-395.(pdf 582Ko)

Gallego, J., Denot-Ledunois, S., Vardon, G., & Perruchet, P. (1996).Ventilatory responses to imagined exercise. Psychophysiology, 33, 711-719

Pacton, S., Fayol & Perruchet, P. (1996). On the knowledge of double letters in French young spellers. Proceedings of the European Writing Conferences, S.I.G. Writing, E.A.R.L.I., Barcelona, Spain.

Perruchet, P., Frazier, N., & Lautrey, J. (1995). Conceptual implicit memory: A developmental study. Psychological Research, 57, 220-228. (pdf 1329Ko)

Bazin, N., Perruchet, P., De Bonis, M., & Féline, A. (1994). The dissociation of explicit and implicit memory in depressed patients. Psychological Medecine, 24, 239-245.

Gallego, J., Benammou, S., Miramand, J-L., Vardon, G., El-massioui, N., Pacteau, C., & Perruchet, P. (1994). Ventilatory conditioning by self-stimulation in rats: a pilot study. Biofeedback and Self-Regulation. 19, 171-180.

Pacteau, C., Bonthoux, F., Perruchet, P., & Lautrey, J. (1994). Category learning of schematic faces in children: Relationships between attribute knowledge and modes of processing. Current Psychology of Cognition, 13, 797-820.

Perruchet, P. (1994). Defining the knowledge units of a synthetic language: Comment on Vokey and Brooks (1992). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20, 223-228. (pdf 1198Ko)

Perruchet, P. (1994). Learning from complex rule-governed environments: On the proper functions of nonconscious and conscious processes. In C. Umilta and M. Moscovitch (Eds.), Attention and performance XV: Conscious and nonconscious information processing, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (pp.811-835)

Perruchet, P., & Gallego, J. (1994). What about unconscious processing during the test? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 17, 415-416.

Vinter, A., & Perruchet, P. (1994). Is there an implicit level of representation? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 17, 730-731.

Gallego, J. & Perruchet, P. (1993). The effect of voluntary breathing on reaction time. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 37, 63-70.

Perruchet, P., & Gallego, J. (1993). Association between conscious knowledge and performance in normal subjects: A reply to Cohen and Curran and to Willingham, Greeley, and Bardone. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19, 1438-1444. (pdf 1159Ko)

Perruchet, P.,  Pacteau, C., & Gallego, J. (1993). Abstraction of covariation in category learning: A critical note on K. Richardson's studies. British Journal of Psychology, 84, 289-295. (pdf 950Ko)

Perruchet, P. & Amorim, M. A. (1992). Conscious knowledge and changes in performance in sequence learning: Evidence against dissociation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 18, 785-800. (pdf 2541Ko)

Perruchet, P., Gallego, J. & Pacteau, C. (1992). A reinterpretation of some earlier evidence for abstractiveness of implicitly acquired knowledge. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 44A, 193-210 (pdf 1309Ko).

Gallego, J. & Perruchet, P. (1991). Classical conditioning of ventilatory responses in man. Journal of Applied Physiology, 70, 676-682.

Gallego, J. & Perruchet, P. (1991). Effects of practice on the voluntary control of a learned breathing pattern. Physiology and Behavior, 49, 315-319.

Gallego, J., Perruchet, P., Camus, J.F. (1991). Assessing attentional control of breathing by reaction time. Psychophysiology, 28, 219-227.

Perruchet, P. (1991). Conditionnement et apprentissage, in J.P. Rossi (Ed.), La recherche en Psychologie, Paris, Dunod (pp. 1-33).

Perruchet, P. & Pacteau, C. (1991). Implicit acquisition of abstract knowledge about artificial grammar: Some methodological and conceptual issues. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 120, 112-116. (pdf 558Ko)

Perruchet, P., Gallego, J. & Savy, I. (1990). A critical reappraisal of the evidence for unconscious abstraction of deterministic rules in complex experimental situations. Cognitive Psychology, 22, 493-516. (pdf 1709Ko)

Perruchet, P. & Pacteau, C. (1990). Synthetic grammar learning: Implicit rule abstraction or explicit fragmentary knowledge? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 119, 264-275. (pdf 1494Ko)

Perruchet, P. (1989). The effect of spaced-practice on explicit and implicit memory, British Journal of Psychology, 80, 113-130.

Perruchet, P., & Baveux, P. (1989). Correlational analyses of explicit and implicit memory, Memory and Cognition, 17, 77-86.

Gallego, J., & Perruchet, P. (1988). Interrelationships between amplitude and period of a continuous hand movement. Perceptual and Motor Skill, 66, 95-104.

Perruchet, P. (1988 ). Une évaluation critique du concept d'automaticité, in P. Perruchet (Ed.) Les automatismes cognitifs, Liège, Mardage (pp.27-54).

Perruchet, P. (1988). L'apprentissage sans conscience : données empiriques et implications théoriques, in P. Perruchet (Ed.) Les automatismes cognitifs, Liège, Mardaga (pp. 81-102).

Perruchet, P. (1987). Pourquoi apprend-on mieux quand les répétitions sont espacées ? Une évaluation des réponses contemporaines, Année Psychologique, 87, 253-272.

Perruchet, P. (1985). Expectancy for airpuff and conditioned eyeblinks in humans, Acta Psychologica, 58, 31-44.

Perruchet P. (1985). A pittfall for an expectancy theory of eyeblink conditioning, Pavlovian Journal of Biological Science, 20, 163-170. (pdf 1560Ko)

Perruchet P. (1985). Les effets différentiels de l'entraînement et leurs implications, Le travail Humain, 48, 129-145.

Perruchet, P. (1985). Expérimenter sur Apple II, Informatique et Sciences humaines, 65, 39-56.

Perruchet, P. (1984). Dual nature of anticipatory classically conditioned reactions, in : S. Kornblum et J. Requin (Eds.). Preparatory States and Processes, Hillsdale, N.J. : Erlbaum., pp. 179-198.

Perruchet, P. (1982). Programmes de description et d'analyses inférentielles de données expérimentales, Informatique et Sciences Humaines, 55, 87-101.

Perruchet, P. (1981). La préférence pour la présence d'un signal préparatoire aux événements aversifs inévitables, Le Travail Humain, 44, 211-226.

Perruchet, P. (1981). Les conditions d'établissement des liaisons conditionnelles : quelques perspectives récentes, Journal de Psychologie, 2-3, 297-310.

Perruchet, P. (1981). Utilisation des corrélations interindividuelles dans l'étude des processus élémentaires du traitement de l'information, Journal de Psychologie, 4, 397-414.

Perruchet, P. (1980). Conditionnement classique chez l'homme et facteurs cognitifs, 2 : le conditionnement moteur, Année Psychologique, 80, 193-219.

Perruchet, P., Roubertoux, P, Carlier, M., Dumont, E. (1980). Variations et covariations des indices de conditionnement au cours du temps chez un sujet unique, Biologie du comportement, 5, 253-268.

Perruchet, P. (1979 ) L'analyse différentielle du conditionnement humain, Paris, Editions du CNRS, 119 P.

Perruchet, P. (1979). Conditionnement classique chez l'homme et facteurs cognitifs, 1 : le conditionnement végétatif, Année Psychologique; 79, 527-557.