Indirect Tests of Memory - Word Fragment Completion (WFC)

Word Fragment Completion (WFC)

The Word Fragment Completion test (WFC) is a test designed to measure memory of words presented to participants. Words that were previously shown to participants are presented again in a fragmented form (i.e. missing letters) with the task of retrieving the missing letters from memory to complete it. This task calls on implicit memory because at the time of word presentation, participants have not consciously stored the items in memory; they have merely been exposed to them. To avoid participants consciously trying to retain the items presented, which would result in a test of explicit memory, they are often mislead about the purpose of the study through irrelevant tasks that are given which require their conscious attention. Implicit memory can then be observed when participants perform better on the WFC test for words that have been presented than for words that have not. This effect is known as priming and is the key demonstration of this test.