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Implicit and explicit memory: intentional retrieval from different search domains

University of British Columbia

A number of different approaches for considering performance on implicit and explicit memory tests have been proposed. The implicit/explicit retrieval distinction has been conceptualized in terms of (a) multiple, distinct memory systems, (b) differences in the resource demands required by each test (e.g., automatic vs. controlled processing), and (c) differences in the type of processing involved in each test (e.g., data driven vs. conceptually driven processing). All three of these approaches to performance in implicit and explicit memory tests account well for certain aspects of the data and all have difficulty accommodating other aspects. The purpose of this thesis was to explore another approach by which to consider performance on implicit and explicit memory tests. This approach, referred to as the retrieval intentions approach, proceeds from the notion that both implicit and explicit recollection are initiated and guided by intentional, consciously controlled retrieval, but that this retrieval is aimed at different domains of memory. Implicit memory tests target the semantic knowledge domain, whereas explicit memory tests direct search toward the episodic memory domain. In most previous experiments investigating implicit and explicit memory test performance, search domain and familiarity of the search strategy have been confounded. Experiments were conducted in an attempt to tease apart the effects of these two influences on retrieval. In the literature, implicit memory search strategies have been characterized as being familiar and automatic, as opposed to explicit memory search which has been described as effortful. In the present work, the familiarity of memory search strategies was manipulated by using either a familiar or a novel strategy to test whether implicit memory performance can be shifted or influenced by this difference in instructions. The results indicated that performance on an implicit memory task can be influenced by variations in the familiarity of retrieval strategies in the absence of prior study (i.e., baseline) as well as in priming. Explicit cued recall showed a similar pattern of effects. The implications of these results are discussed, along with theoretical prospectives for the retrieval intentions approach to implicit and explicit memory performance.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-03-09

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5802

Psychology

University of British Columbia

Graduate