Implicit memory

Implicit memory is a part of memory where previous experiences of how to do a task helps with doing the task again. Implicit memory is unconscious memory: the person or animal performing the task is not aware of the presence of implicit memory.Schacter D.L. 1987.Implicit memory: history and current status . Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 13, 501-518. 

Evidence for implicit memory occurs in priming, a process where subjects are measured by how they have improved their performance on tasks for which they have been subconsciously prepared.Graf P. & Mandler G. 1984. Activation makes words more accessible, but not necessarily more retrievable. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 23, 553-568. Implicit memory also leads to the illusion-of-truth effect. Subjects are more likely to say statements that they have already heard are true, regardless of their actual truth.Hasher L; Goldstein D. & Toppino T. 1977. Frequency and the conference of referential validity. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior. 16, 107-112. In daily life, people rely on implicit memory every day in the form of procedural memory. This is the kind of memory which allows people to remember how to tie their shoes or ride a bicycle without consciously thinking about these activities. Research into implicit memory indicates that it operates through a different mental process than explicit memory.

References

Category:Cognition
Category:Memory