Explicit and Implicit Memory

Choose 1 of the 6 essays below to be your fifth submission for your “final” exam.
Your response should be no fewer than 250 words. Be sure to clearly read the essay
questions and answer all its parts.
Use the textbook as your source. You may use 1 website as an additional source.
Remember to cite the textbook chapter and pages where you found the information as well
as the website information.
Clearly identify the essay choice in your submission.

13. Describe the 4 stages of sleep. Explain what occurs in each stage. What happens to the
    stages of sleep throughout the night?
14. Discuss and explain 3 possible explanations of the function of dreams. Which seems
    most plausible to you when you reflect upon the type of dreams that you experience?
15. Explain Pavlov’s learning experiment. Use the terms stimulus, response, acquisition,
    extinction and spontaneous recovery. Give two applications of classical conditioning.
16. Explain three applications of Skinner’s operant conditioning.
17. Explain 3 methods of effortful processing that help us to form memories.
18. Define and explain the differences between implicit memory and explicit memory.
    Explain the role of the hippocampus in forming memories.
    Please you must cite from the textbook and write on only one of the topics given, Please
    include page numbers and chapter when you write.

Explicit and Implicit Memory

Explicit memory is the information that an individual works consciously to remember
while information that is remembered effortlessly or unconsciously is known as implicit
memory. There has been a lot of research on explicit memory and presently, researchers are
working on finding out how implicit memory functions and the influence it has on behavior and
knowledge (Myers, 2011).
Explicit memory stores information in cases where a person is trying to remember
something intentionally, for example, what was learnt at school. This memory is used daily when
recalling things such as the time and date of an appointment, the current president, a friend’s
phone number, and a test’s information. This memory is also referred to as declarative memory
since an individual explains and recalls the information consciously. Explicit memory may be

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semantic that involves memories of names, concepts, and facts, or episodic that deals with long-
term memories of particular events (Myers, 2011).
Implicit memory involves the things people do not try to remember purposely. It is both
unintentional and unconscious (Myers, 2011). It is also referred to as declarative as an individual
cannot make it available consciously. For example, a person does not consciously remember how
to turn on the television. Although implicit memory is recalled consciously, it has an impact on
behavior and knowledge on varying tasks.

The role of the Hippocampus in forming memories

The brain’s horse-shoe shaped area has a vital role in that it consolidates information
from short-term into long-term memory. The hippocampus is a component of the limbic system
that is linked to long-term memories and emotions. Moreover, it is involved in complicated
processes including organizing, storing, and forming memories. In case one hippocampus side
gets damaged, memory function remains almost normal as it is present in the two brain
hemispheres (Myers, 2011).

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Reference

Myers, D. G. (2011). Psychology in Everyday Life (2 nd Ed.). (Chapter 6, 78-90). New York:
Worth Publishers.