Elaboration effects in implicit and explicit memory tests

Dissociation effects in explicit and implicit tests of memory were examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1 serial-position effects were studied. Results showed that the standard primacy effect found in free recall is absent in an implicit word-stem completion test. In Experiment 2 a dissociation was found for the effect of high- and low-frequency words in free recall and word-stem completion tests. Both findings are explained in terms of a modified and extended version of the activation-elaboration learning account, which was inspired by attempts to simulate dissociation effects in connectionist models. The relationship between this account and two other leading accounts of dissociation effects in implicit and explicit memory is discussed, and a model to integrate aspects of all three accounts is suggested.