Abstract
Previous experiments have shown that the procedure of questioning subjects retrospectively about the input and output status of information (input and output monitoring) is a useful method for assessing the awareness states of subjects during implicit and explicit memory tasks. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate whether the previous findings could be extended to other implicit and explicit memory tasks. We were especially interested in whether differences in input- and output-monitoring performance can be observed when both the implicit and explicit memory tasks are conceptual ones. In a final test phase, the target items from the study phase and new distractor items were presented. In a recognition-like situation, subjects had to decide whether an item had been presented in the study phase (input status), as well as whether they had produced the item in the memory-test phase (output status). In all three experiments judgments about the input status - but only for those items that had been produced in the implicit or in the explicit memory test - were more precise after explicit than after implicit memory testings. This finding was not influenced by the distinction between perceptual and conceptual-memory tasks (Exp. 1), and was obtained under conditions in which the implicit and the explicit memory tasks were both conceptual and differed only in test instructions (Exps. 2 and 3). These results suggest that not only subjects performing a perceptual test of implicit memory, but also subjects in a conceptual implicit test were less aware of using information from a previous study episode than subjects who received memory instructions. It is concluded that requiring judgments about the input status of information is a good method for assessing subjects′ test awareness and is preferable to the use of a questionnaire (Exp. 3). In contrast, in all three experiments no differences were found with the output-monitoring measure between implicit and explicit test conditions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blaxton, T. A. (1989). Investigating dissociations among memory measures: Support for a transfer-appropriate processing framework. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 657–668.
Bowers, J. S., & Schacter, D. L. (1990). Implicit memory and test awareness. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16, 404–416.
Challis, B. H., & Sidhu, R. (1993). Dissociative effect of massed repetition on implicit and explicit measures of memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19, 115–127.
Craik, F.I. M., Moscovitch, M., & McDowd, J. M. (1994). Contributions of surface and conceptual information to performance on implicit and explicit memory tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20, 864–875.
Gardiner, J. M. (1988), Functional aspects of recollective experience. Memory & Cognition, 16, 309–313.
Gardiner, J. M., & Java, R. I. (1990). Recollective experience in word and nonword recognition. Memory & Cognition, 18, 23–30.
Graf, P., & Komatsu, S. (1994). Process dissociation procedure: Handle with caution! European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 6, 113–129.
Graf, P., & Schacter, D. L. (1985). Implicit and explicit memory for new associations in normal and amnesic subjects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 11, 501–518.
Hamann, S. B. (1990). Level-of-processing effects in conceptually driven implicit tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16, 970–977.
Jacoby, L. L., Toth, J. P., & Yonelinas, A. P. (1993), Separating conscious and unconscious influences of memory: Measuring recollection. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 122, 139–154.
Jacoby, L. L., & Witherspoon, D. (1982). Remembering without awareness. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 36, 300–324.
Java, R. I. (1994). States of awareness following word stem completion. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 6, 77–92.
Klee, H., & Gardiner, J. M. (1980). Remembering the recall of cued and uncued words: Effects of initial accessibility. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 34, 220–226.
Koriat, A., Ben-Zur, H., & Sheffer, D. (1988). Telling the same story twice: Output monitoring and age. Journal of Memory and Language, 27, 23–39.
Mannhaupt, H.-R. (1983). Produktionsnormen für verbale Reaktionen zu 40 geläufigen Kategorien. Sprache und Kognition, 2, 264–278.
Parkin, A. J. (1989). The development and nature of implicit memory. In S. Lewandowsky, J. C. Dunn, & K. Kirsner (Eds.), Implicit memory: Theoretical issues (pp. 231–240). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Rappold, V. A., & Hashtroudi, S. (1991). Does organization improve priming? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 17, 103–114.
Richardson-Klavehn, A., & Gardiner, J. M. (1995). Retrieval volition and memorial awareness in stem completion: An empirical analysis. Psychological Research/Psychologische Forschung, 57, 166–178.
Richardson-Klavehn, A., Gardiner, J. M., & Java, R. I. (1994). Involuntary conscious memory and the method of opposition. Memory, 2, 1–29.
Roediger, H. L., & McDermott, K. B. (1993). Implicit memory in normal human subjects. In H. Spinnler & F. Boller (Eds.), Handbook of neuropsychology (Vol. 8, pp. 63–131). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Schacter, D. L., & Graf, P. (1989). Modality specifity of implicit memory for new associations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 3–12.
Snodgrass, J. G., & Corwin, J. (1988). Pragmatics of measuring recognition memory: Applications to dementia and amnesia. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117, 34–50.
Srinivas, K., & Roediger, H. L. (1990). Classifying implicit memory tests: Category association and anagram solution. Journal of Memory and Language, 29, 389–412.
Toth, J. P., Reingold, E. M., & Jacoby, L. L. (1994). Toward a redefinition of implicit memory: Process dissociations following elaborative processing and self-generation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20, 290–303.
Tulving, E. (1989). Memory: Performance, knowledge, and experience. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 1, 3–26.
Wippich, W. (1992). Implicit and explicit memory without awareness. Psychological Research, 54, 212–224.
Wippich, W., Mecklenbräuker, S., & Ilkus, F. (1992). Was wird von Erinnerungen erinnert? Unterschiede zwischen indirekten und direkten Behaltensprüfungen. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 51, 102–117.
Wippich, W., Mecklenbräuker, S., & Reding, P. (1993). Gedächtnis und Bewußstein: Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen impliziten und expliziten Behaltensprüfungen. Zeitschrift für Experimentelle und Angewandte Psychologie, 40, 487–508.
Wippich, W., Spelten, M., & Mecklenbräuker, S. (1989). Erinnerungen an implizit und explizit Erinnertes. Zeitschrift für Experimentelle und Angewandte Psychologie, 36, 672–692.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mecklenbräuker, S. Input- and output-monitoring in implicit and explicit memory. Psychol. Res 57, 179–191 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00431279
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00431279