Explicit Memory
What is Explicit Memory?
Explicit memory is a type of long-term memory that involves conscious recall of facts and events. It includes both semantic memory (general knowledge) and episodic memory (personal experiences), and it allows us to intentionally remember information like names, dates, and past events.
The Basic Idea
When going through the process to obtain a driver’s license, you had to take a written exam. You may have been asked the following question:
When approaching a school bus with its stop sign extended and red lights flashing, you must:
- Slow down to pass cautiously
- Stop if children are crossing
- Stop regardless of children crossing and your direction of travel
- Continue driving if you’re in the opposite lane
You reflect on the notes you studied and the practice exams you took in the days leading up to the exam to remember that the correct answer is C. In this scenario, you tried to intentionally recall a learned fact, drawing on your explicit memory to answer the question.
Explicit memory, sometimes referred to as declarative memory, is information that requires purposeful and conscious effort to recall. Often, knowledge is deliberately encoded into long-term memory by rehearsal, through acts like studying. Other times, life events, particularly those that are highly emotional and important to you, will also become part of your explicit memory. If asked what you felt like on your wedding day, you’d be able to recall it as if it happened yesterday. You’re likely to be able to specifically pinpoint how and when you have come to know knowledge stored in explicit memory, as opposed to your brain unconsciously committing it to memory, which is the case for implicit memory. Implicit memory is information stored in our brains unconsciously, that we don’t purposefully try to remember, like knowing how to brush your teeth.1
Explicit memory and implicit memory are different types of long-term memory that often work together to help you navigate day-to-day life. For example, if you’re riding your bike to your friend’s new house, you remember how to pedal and keep balance thanks to implicit memory, while you know the route by explicitly memorizing it beforehand.1
“For all of us, explicit memory makes it possible to leap across space and time and conjure up events and emotional states that have vanished into the past yet somehow continue to live in our minds.”2
— Eric Kandel, American-Austrian medical doctor and Nobel Prize Winner who studied how nerve cells in our brain store memories3
About the Author
Emilie Rose Jones
Emilie currently works in Marketing & Communications for a non-profit organization based in Toronto, Ontario. She completed her Masters of English Literature at UBC in 2021, where she focused on Indigenous and Canadian Literature. Emilie has a passion for writing and behavioural psychology and is always looking for opportunities to make knowledge more accessible.
