Elsevier

Cognition

Volume 8, Issue 2, 1980, Pages 175-185
Cognition

Very long term memory for tacit knowledge

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Abstract

Very long term memory for abstract materials was examined by recalling subjects who had served in a synthetic grammar learning experiment two years earlier. In that study (Reber & Allen, 1978) we differentiated among several cognitive modes of acquisition, their resultant memorial representations, and their associated decision processes. Two years later and without any opportunity for rehearsal or relearning, subjects still retain knowledge of these grammars to a remarkable degree. Although some differences have become blurred with the passage of time, the form and structure of that knowledge and the manner in which it is put to use remain strikingly similar to the original. That is, differences traceable to acquisition mode and conditions of initial training can still be observed. As in the original study, these results are discussed within the general context of a functionalist approach to complex cognitive processes.

Résumé

Cette recherche porte sur la mémoire à long terme pour un matériel abstrait. Les sujets de l'expérience avaient participé, deux ans auparavant, à une expérience d'apprentissage de grammaire synthétique. Au cours de cette recherche (Reber and Allen, 1978) on avait dégagé plusieurs modes d'acquisition cognitive, les représentations en mémoire qu'ils induisaient et les processus de décisions qui y étaient associés. Deux ans plus tard sans qu'il y ait possibilité de répétition ou de réapprentissage, les sujets se souvenaient remarquablement de ces grammaires. Si certaines nuances étaient atténuées avec le temps, la forme et la structure des connaissances et leurs modes d'utilisation restaient trés comparables avec les originaux. Les variations remarqueées dans le mode d'acquisition dans l'entraînement initial s'observaient encore. Comme pour la première étude, ces résultats sont discutés dans le contexte général d'une approche fonctionnaliste des processus cognitifs complexes.

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This research was conducted while the senior author was supported by a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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