A comparison of forgetting in an implicit and explicit memory task

Abstract

Among possible critieria for distinguishing separate memory systems for implicit and explicit memory is that of substantial differences ineither the form or rate of forgetting. Prior literature has claimed both differential forgetting and equivalent forgetting for implicit and explicit tasks. Existing experimental data for word-stem completion and explicit control tasks were reviewed and shown to be inconclusive. Our experiments measure forgetting in comparable implicit and explicit memory tasks of stem completion and stem cued recall, The form and the rate of forgetting are essentially the same for these implicit and explicit tasks. Levels of processing and task conditions differ only in the level of initial learning or availability. Thus, either the implicit and explicit ask reflect races in the same memory system or they reflect traces in different systems that have identical forgetting dynamics. The goal of this article is to evaluate the form and rate of forgetting in implicit and explicit memory for words. Claims about differential forgetting in impficit and explicit memory are evaluated in a review of the relevant literature and in four new experiments