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Implicit and Explicit Assessment of Cognitive Aging

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Cognitive Development in Adulthood

Abstract

When we speak of memory, it is usually of conscious recollection. I conclude that I remember someone’s name if I am able to recall it when we meet or, failing that, am able to recognize that the name is familiar when the person announces it. Psychologists and other scholars have not limited their definition of memory solely to such explicit measures, as Schacter’s (1987) historical review outlines, but explicit measures have, nonetheless, dominated the study of memory. The laboratory tests most frequently used require that the person report a conscious recollection of the tested event. This is true both for recall tests (e.g., “What words were in the list you just studied?” “Tell me everything you remember of the paragraph you just read.”) and for recognition tests (e.g., “Was the word ABODE in the list you just studied?” “Did the paragraph you read state that Fred was a carpenter?”).

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Howard, D.V. (1988). Implicit and Explicit Assessment of Cognitive Aging. In: Howe, M.L., Brainerd, C.J. (eds) Cognitive Development in Adulthood. Springer Series in Cognitive Development. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3852-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3852-2_1

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