Explicit memories are memories of facts and experiences that require conscious effort to encode and can be consciously recalled; includes episodic and semantic memories.

• A. Procedural skills and conditioned responses
• B. Memories that are stored in the cerebellum exclusively
• C. Conscious recall is not possible for explicit memories
• D. Memories of facts and experiences that require conscious effort to encode; episodic and semantic memories

Answer: (D)

Explicit memory is a form of memory that requires conscious attention to encode and can be consciously recalled. It’s the part of memory you can declare and describe, and it includes two main types: episodic memory, for personal experiences and events, and semantic memory, for general facts and knowledge. This is what makes it “explicit” or declarative—you can bring it to mind on purpose.

That’s why the statement about memories of facts and experiences needing conscious effort to encode and being consciously recallable, with episodic and semantic components, is the best fit. It captures the defining feature of explicit memory: conscious encoding and conscious retrieval.

By contrast, memories like procedural skills or conditioned responses are typically implicit or nondeclarative. They’re learned through practice and repetition and are retrieved without conscious effort. The idea that explicit memories are stored exclusively in the cerebellum doesn’t fit, because explicit memories rely more on the hippocampus and related cortical areas for encoding and retrieval, while the cerebellum is more involved in implicit motor and timing learning. And stating that conscious recall isn’t possible for explicit memories contradicts the core definition of explicit memory.