In this article, macroinitiators with different glass transition temperature (T-g) were synthesized by reversible additional-fragmental chain transfer polymerization, and used to prepare polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) with methyl acrylate. The memory effect of these PDLCs was investigated. The results showed that remarkable memory effect exhibit only in PDLCs with high and low T-g block chain. The possible mechanism responsible for the behavior is sketched. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 729-732, 2010