Conscious and automatic processes in autobiographical memory retrieval investigated by using a cognitive load task

Abstract

A cognitive load task was used to experimentally clarify differences in conscious and automatic processes during autobiographical memory retrieval. Conscious and automatic processes were estimated based on the IRK procedure (Jacoby, 1998; Jacoby & Hay, 1998). The results indicated that the value of conscious processes in the cognitive load condition was significantly higher than in the no load condition, whereas there was no significant difference between these two conditions for automatic processes. This result suggests that conscious processes use more cognitive resources than automatic processes. These characteristic differences support the theory of dissociation between conscious and automatic processes during autobiographical memory retrieval.