Abstract
The influence of response bias on tests of implicit and explicit memory was assessed by using word-stem completion and recognition. During acquisition, subjects were presented either with a list of words unrelated to the task in the retrieval phase or with a list of words whose stems could be completed in only two ways (e.g. “appeal,” “appear”). In the word-stem-completion retrieval phase, the subjects, who were given either explicit or implicit memory instructions, were asked to complete these stems. Retrieval of items in implicit and explicit memory tasks was highly correlated (r =.593 and.625, respectively) when the acquisition list had contained the words completing the stems and similarly correlated (r =.667) when the acquisition list had contained no words completing the stems. There was no correlation between recognition and explicit stem completion. In contrast to stem completion, there was no overall correlation between “recognition” in the condition in which the acquisition list contained words to be recognized later and the guessing condition, in which the acquisition list had contained no words presented during the retrieval phase. However, when the items were divided into two groups differing in memorability, a negative correlation appeared between recognition and guessing probability with the more memorable items, and a positive correlation appeared with the less memorable items. This suggests that response bias, rather than the memory the tasks are designed to test, is responsible for the normally reported lack of correlation between recognition and word completion.
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My thanks are due to my colleagues, E. B. Ebbesen and J. T. Wixted, for helpful discussion and to Melody Chen for help in statistical calculation
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Deutsch, J.A. Implicit and explicit memory and response bias. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 30, 505–508 (1992). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334113
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334113