Tests of Implicit Memory

 Implicit memory tests are those in which subjects are asked to respond to test stimuli (e.g. generate a word, classify an object, perform a motor task) without making reference to prior events.

The impressive experimental evidence available about dissociations between implicit and explicit memory tasks warrants the assumption that there are fundamental differences between mnemonic information assessed by implicit and explicit memory tests.

For example, numerous studies have documented across diverse tasks that amnesic patients (and other special populations) exhibit preserved mnemonic functioning when they are assessed with tests of implicit memory, and a memory severely impaired when tests of explicit memory are given.

Studies with normal subjects have also shown that under some conditions (e.g. effects of alcohol, psychoactive drugs, general anesthesia, or certain experimental manipulations) normal’s exhibit implicit memory for information that they cannot explicitly remember.

The most important and theoretically relevant conclusion from these findings is that implicit memories are explicitly inaccessible and vice versa, because (a) different aspects of events are encoded by distinct but interacting neuro cognitive systems, and (b) diverse tasks tap different memory systems. 

Therefore, an adequate memory assessment requires of experimenters and clinicians to make use of explicit memory tests as well as implicit memory tests.

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