ABSTRACT
For explicit tests, attention is directed to specific prior episodes; for implicit tests, no awareness of prior episodes is required Certain variables have substantial effects on performance for one type of test yet generally have negligible impact on performance for the other type of test. This chapter considers alternative accounts for the pattern of findings, ultimately focusing on the distinction between item-specific and relational information in memory. The argument advanced here is that explicit tests, unlike implicit tests, are especially sensitive to relational information in memory. Thus, manipulations affecting relational information will be evident primarily on explicit tests. Although both types of test are sensitive to item-specific information, manipulations influencing item-specific information will be more evident on implicit tests, where relational information plays a much smaller role. This account is used to re-interpret existing literature and to provide predictions for possible future experiments.
