Experiments on Implicit Memory in a Korsakoff Patient by Claparede (1907)

Abstract

A translation is given of Claparede's (1907) pioneering paper on memory and amnesia, which describes the case of a woman suffering from Korsakoff's psychosis. In order to demonstrate unconscious memory on this patient, Claparede used Ebbinghaus's method of savings. The experimental results presented here are one of the firstdemonstrations of implicitmemory in amnesia. Adopting Janet's (1904) view, he argued that amnesia is attributable to a pathological process of dissociation that interferes with the ability to synthesise memories into the personal consciousness.