Explicit Memory

What it is

The distinction between explicit and implicit memory was drawn by Peter Graf and Daniel Schacter in 1985. Explicit memory is direct: the person is asked what they remember. Implicit memory is indirect: the researcher infers memory from later performance.

A recognition test shows participants a set of brands and asks which they saw earlier. Because it asks about the experience outright, it measures only what the person can bring to mind.

In effect

In Moonhee Yang and colleagues' 2006 study, college students had low explicit memory for brand names placed in two sports computer games. The same students showed implicit memory on a word-fragment test.

That gap is the reason advertising studies report both. A placement judged by recognition alone can look like a failure, and a placement judged by a fragment test alone can look like a success.

What it does not say

It does not say players cannot remember brands in games. It says that in this study, under this test, few were recognised.

It does not say low recognition means no effect. The attitude research on placements in games suggests the player's experience at the moment of exposure also matters, whether or not the brand is remembered.

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