Involuntary aware memory enhances priming on a conceptual implicit memory task

This study investigated the role of involuntary aware memory (phenomenological awareness of the study episode) on a conceptual implicit memory task. Subjects studied words under levels of processing conditions (LOP: nonsemantic vs. semantic) and then received a category exemplar generation priming task. Subjects were either aware or unaware of the study test relationship. Subjects who were study test aware showed more priming for semantic study than subjects who were study test unaware, thus producing an LOP dissociation between them. The findings suggest that involuntary aware memory can enhance performance on conceptual implicit memory tasks, thus having theoretical implications for implicit and explicit memory.