Exploring the role of attention during implicit memory retrieval

Implicit memory is memory for information that is not driven by conscious processing. This study investigated the role of attention during implicit memory retrieval across four experiments using a test-phase division of attention. Implicit retrieval is dissociable into perceptual and conceptual forms. Implicit retrieval is further dissociable into tests that involve stimulus identification or stimulus production. Several lines of research make predictions about implicit retrieval in general, and with respect to these two dissociations.; The present study used four implicit tests that can be classified according to each of these two dimensions. Experiment 1 used a perceptual identification test; Experiment 2 used a word-stem completion test; Experiment 3 used a category exemplar production test; and Experiment 4 used a category verification test. Attention was divided during the test-phase only with one of several secondary tasks. It was found that, across all experiments, none of the secondary tasks reduced levels of priming for any of the implicit tests. Further, implicit retrieval had no detrimental effects on performance for any of the secondary tasks. All of the above support the idea that implicit retrieval is automatic.