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explicit memory

long-term memory that can be consciously recalled: general knowledge or information about personal experiences that an individual retrieves in response to a specific need or request to do so. This term, proposed in 1985 by Canadian psychologist Peter Graf and U.S. psychologist Daniel L. Schacter (1952–  ), is used interchangeably with declarative memory but typically with a performance-based orientation—that is, a person is aware that he or she possesses certain knowledge and specifically retrieves it to complete a task overtly eliciting that knowledge (e.g., a multiple-choice exam). Compare implicit memory.

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Psychology term of the day

January 23rd 2025