Help with psychology essay: the information and sensitivity criteria

This is a tough one, if there are any psychology students on here I would be really grateful to hear your thought on this...

Has the information and sensitivity criteria had a big impact on the subject of implicit learning?

The question, as you phrase it, is confusing. Is it that you need to write about how Shanks and St. John's (1994) proposal of the information criterion and the sensitivity criterion have affected subsequent research concerning implicit learning?

If so, set the stage by defining implicit learning and then describing the state of the research prior to 1994. Then describe and explain the information and sensitivity criteria. Then describe research since, saying how this has been (or has not been) different than previous research. Finally, if you feel confident doing so, assess whether the information and sensitivity criteria have made a positive contribution to the study of implicit learning and to cognitive psychology in general.

Aye, your phrasing be a tad confusing. Whose information and sensitivity criteria do you mean? In any event, this sounds suspiciously like a semi-rhetorical question, the sort that you wouldn't be asked unless the answer is "yes." Note, though, that the "impact" you discuss may be either negative or positive, though again, the question sort of implies an expectation that you will talk about a positive rather than a negative impact.