The study of the contribution of different subtypes of long-term memory, explicit and implicit, in the performance in certain tasks is constrained by three different factors: a) the ambiguous definition of these types of memory, "consciously" and "non-consciously" retrievable, respectively; b) the distinct features of tasks that assess implicit and explicit memory, rendering the direct comparison of results in these tasks little revealing; e c) the fact that both implicit and explicit strategies can be employed together in practically all types of tests. The "Retrieval Intentionality Criterion" (Schacter, Bowers, & Booker, 1989) consists of a paradigm that proposes to control these factors so that the use of explicit and implicit memory can be distinguished. The present work illustrates how this methodology can be employed and how to interpret results obtained applying a stem-completion task.
Memory; implicit; explicit; intentionality; awareness; stem-completion
