Implicit Memory
What is Implicit Memory?
Implicit memory refers to the type of memory that influences our thoughts and behaviors without conscious awareness. It allows us to perform tasks automatically—like riding a bike or typing—without actively thinking about them. It is differentiated from explicit memory, which requires intentional recall to guide our decisions.
The Basic Idea
Imagine trying to describe to someone how to ride a bike. It’s tough to put into words, and even though it’s been years since your parents taught you, you are confident that if you found yourself on a bike, you’d easily cycle along. Even if you try to explain it, you may get it wrong. If someone asked you how to turn right, you’d probably say “Turn your handlebars to the right,” but that would cause them to fall. It seems counterintuitive, but it’s actually a small left turn of the handlebars that helps you to steer right. It might sound counterintuitive, but check out this video that explains the physics behind it! However, you don’t need to know how to explain it—you just remember how to do it, allowing you to simply hop on and go!
The reason that you can remember how to ride a bike is thanks to implicit memory. Sometimes referred to as unconscious memory, implicit memory is a type of long-term memory where, even though information is not purposefully or consciously committed to memory, it is stored in our brains for future use. We effortlessly use the knowledge stored as implicit memory to carry out activities without having to consciously recall the information. One of the most common forms of implicit memory is procedural memory, which involves the remembering and use of motor skills that allow us to complete tasks like riding a bike without much thought.1
Some other examples of implicit memory at work include:
- Singing the lyrics to your favorite song, even though you didn’t study them
- Touch-typing on a keyboard, even though you’d struggle to tell someone what letters are in the first row
- Navigating to work without using Google Maps, though you may not recall the name of every street you take
Implicit memory is described in contrast to explicit memory, another type of long-term memory which refers to information that you consciously try to remember, often learned through studying or retained from highly emotional personal experiences. When accessing explicit memory, people usually have to consciously retrieve the information, a process that may be prompted by a test question that asks you to recall factual information, or someone asking you about an event in your life, like your wedding day.1
Implicit memory and explicit memory work in conjunction on a day-to-day basis to help guide your decisions and behavior. For example, if you’re participating in an interview, your implicit memory guides you to walk in with a smile, greet the interviewer with a firm handshake, and make plenty of eye contact throughout the interview; all behaviors that you have learned over the years make you appear confident. When the interviewer asks, “Can you tell me about a time you experienced conflict in the workplace?” you will draw on your explicit memory to consciously retrieve a personal experience to answer the question.
“Implicit memory is responsible not only for simple perceptual and motor skills but also, in principle, for the pirouettes of Margot Fonteyn, the trumpeting techniques of Wynton Marsalis, the accurate ground strokes of Andre Agassi, and the leg movements of an adolescent. Implicit memory guides us through well-established routines that are not consciously controlled.”2
— Eric Kandel, American-Austrian doctor who won the Nobel Prize for his research on the biological mechanisms that allow us to 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.
