Explicit vs Implicit Memory

Two ways memory shows up: with conscious recollection, or through behaviour without awareness.

• Explicit memory: conscious recollection (“I remember going there”), roughly declarative memory (episodic + semantic)
• Implicit memory: influences behaviour without awareness, priming, motor skills, conditioned responses (you ride a bike without consciously recalling how)

Evidence

Amnesic patients often lose explicit memory while implicit memory stays intact, a double dissociation that’s some of the strongest evidence these are really different systems.