Is conscious processing required for long-term memory?

Models of memory (including those of the SAM-REM variety) are generally based on the assumption that storage of information in long-term memory is a function of the amount of elaborative processing given to the processed information. Here we explore the limits of such an assumption by examining the long-term effects of information that has only been processed at a subliminal level. We conclude that even subliminally presented information is stored to some extent and will lead to small but consistent effects in indirect memory tests but not on direct memory tests. To have an effect on a direct memory test, the information has to be clearly seen (as in the RSVP experiments discussed in this chapter) although here again, attentive processing does not appear to be required.