Strategies and automaticity: I. Basic findings and conceptual framework.

The contributions of strategic and data-driven factors to skilled performance were evaluated by manipulating the predictability of the class of stimuli used in a memory search task. In Experiment 1, when consistent mapping (CM) and varied mapping (VM) conditions were blocked, large performance differences were observed; however, when CM and VM trials were mixed, performance differences were reduced. In Experiment 2, mixed training led to a less skilled performance than blocked training. Moreover, transfer conditions revealed a critical interval for learning to adopt and deploy differential response strategies. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the differential response strategies were not stimulus specific