TITLE:
Explicit and Implicit Memory in Depressive Patients. Review of the Literature
AUTHORS:
Chrystel Besche-Richard
KEYWORDS:
Depression; Implicit Memory; Explicit Memory; Recognition; Recall; Cognition
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.4 No.11A,
November
29,
2013
ABSTRACT: The cognitive approach to depressive disorders has generally focused on
memory problems. In recent years, research conducted in this field has been
based on new cognitive theories of memory that distinguish between implicit
memory, i.e. an unconscious memory that promotes the use of automatic processes,
and explicit memory, i.e. a conscious memory based on the use of controlled
processes. Here, we propose a review of the literature concerning the studies
of depressive pathology. The initial results suggested a specific impairment of
the explicit memory and thus brought depressive pathology into the realm of the
pathologies of consciousness. More recent results and/or a consideration of
divergent findings have led researchers to revise this interpretation. After
looking at the various studies, we shall point out certain divergent results
that will allow us to propose some new explanations and, finally, some new
avenues of research based on the consideration of clinical and methodological
elements. This approach is based on a cognitive and clinical examination of
depressive disease. We examine the role of the processes—data—or
conceptually driven processes, the role of the paradigm used, and clinical
profile with a special interest for the presence of anxious or psychotic
symptoms, and for the emotional profile.