Toward specifying the attentional demands of recognition memory

Previous studies have concluded that recognition memory is immune to disruption from divided attention and therefore is a relatively automatic process (A. Baddeley, V. Lewis, M. Eldridge, & N. Thomson, 1984; F. I. M. Craik, R. Govoni, M. Naveh-Benjamin, & N. D. Anderson, 1996). Because costs have been found on the concurrent task used to divide attention, recognition may nevertheless require some attentional resources (M. Naveh-Benjamin, F. I. M. Craik, J. Guez, & H. Dori, 1998). The present authors used attention-demanding concurrent tasks to demonstrate significant costs on both the concurrent task and recognition memory performance. Decrements in recognition accuracy were found for classes of items that were studied deeply but not for more shallowly learned materials. The present findings suggest that recognition processes can require significant attentional resources when tested under the appropriate conditions. The results are discussed in terms of the requirements both at encoding and at test that are needed to observe dual-task decrements to recognition accuracy.     

Attentional demands of visual word recognition

Becker's (1976, 1979, 1980, 1985; Becker & Killion, 1977; Eisenberg & Becker, 1982) verification model was used as a framework to investigate the attentional demands of word recognition. In two experiments, a lexical decision task and an auditory probe task were performed in single- and dual-task conditions. Responses to probes were divided into detection and movement measures that indexed the demands of recognition and response output, respectively. In Experiment 1, single- to dual-task decrements in probe detection performance were larger during low-frequency as compared with high-frequency trials. This finding indicates that the attentional demands of word recognition vary with word frequency. These findings were replicated in Experiment 2, which was designed to separate a response compatibility and a capacity interpretation of the results. The findings are interpreted within Becker's verification model.     

Exhaustive memory-scanning and familiarity discrimination: Separate mechanisms in recognition memory tasks

Experiment I was a yes-no recognition task with lists of one, two or four items to remember. Each item in the experiment appeared in only one list, and each list was presented only once. One group of subjects performed the task with complex pictures. Their results were incompatible with the hypothesis of exhaustive memory scanning, since the function relating “yes” response latency to list length was not parallel to but steeper than the function for “no” responses. Another group performed the task with words. Their results were consistent with exhaustive memory-scanning. Experiment II was a similar task in which the familiarity was varied of the test items to which the subjects had to respond “no”. That variation affected response latency with pictures but not with words. From these results and from a consideration of relevant neurological data, the hypothesis is advanced that familiarity discrimination and exhaustive memory-scanning are separate mechanisms.     

Working memory demands of exact and approximate addition

We compared the working memory requirements of two forms of mental addition: exact calculation (e.g., 63 + 49 = 112) and approximation (e.g., 63 + 49 is about 110). In two experiments, participants solved two-digit addition problems (e.g., 63 + 49) alone and in combination with a working memory task (i.e., remembering four consonants). In Experiment 1, participants chose an answer from two alternatives (e.g., exact: 112 vs. 122; approximate: 110 vs. 140). In Experiment 2, participants responded verbally with exact or approximate answers. In both experiments, the working memory load impaired exact and approximate addition performance, but exact addition was affected more. Load also impaired performance on problems with a carry operation in the units (e.g., 28 + 59 or 76 + 57) more than on problems without a unit carry (e.g., 24 + 53 or 76 + 52). These results identify the carry operation as the source of the working memory demands in multidigit addition.     

Measuring recognition memory.

Recent years have seen an expanded interest in recognition memory tasks. This resurgence of interest has also renewed concerns with measurement problems. Comparing 4 models of recognition memory, Snodgrass and Corwin (1988) found that measures of bias from the distribution-free (nonparametric) model were inadequate. However, their analysis was based on bias measures that can be shown a priori to be nonindependent of discrimination. This article traces the history of the nonparametric model and develops a better measure of bias. The consequence of developing this better measure is that the nonparametric model deserves serious consideration.     

Stimulus-form effectsin recognition memory

In two experiments, recognition memory was tested using memorized lists of items containing from 2 to 32 nominal concepts. Stimulus form was manipulated by using the names of the items on word trials and outline drawings of the items on picture trials. In terms of an information processing stage model of recognition memory, stimulus form affected only an identification or encoding stage of processing. Subsequent memory-search, decision, and response processes were largely the same for all stimuli once the words or pictures were encoded. The results are consistent with the hypothesized role of stimulus form in processes underlying long-term recognition. However, our results are inconsistent with those of a number of studies involving stimulus-form effects in short-term recognition memory.     

Short-term recognition memory of tones

Four Os participated in a recognition memory experiment for a period of 5 weeks. The task required O to judge whether two temporally sequenced tones (ISI = 0.5, 2.0, or 8.0 sec) were the “same” or “different ” Latencies and confidence ratings were obtained for each judgment. TSD analyses applied to individual O’s data indicated consistent and rapidly decreasing d’s as a function of ISI. ROC functions generated from the latencies and ratings produced comparable results, indicating the feasibility of using latency measures along with the type of judgments made to obtain sensitivity measures. Response bias, as indicated by the differences in the latencies between “same” and “different” judgments, did not produce consistent trends.     

Contextual knowledge reduces demands on working memory during reading

An experiment is reported in which young, middle-aged, and older adults read and recalled ambiguous texts either with or without the topic title that supplied contextual knowledge. Within each of the age groups, the participants were divided into those with high or low working memory (WM) spans, with available WM capacity further manipulated by the presence or absence of an auditory target detection task concurrent with the reading task. Differences in reading efficiency (reading time per proposition recalled) between low WM span and high WM span groups were greater among readers who had access to contextual knowledge relative to those who did not, suggesting that contextual knowledge reduces demands on WM capacity. This position was further supported by the finding that increased age and attentional demands, two factors associated with reduced WM capacity, exaggerated the benefits of contextual knowledge on reading efficiency. The relative strengths of additional potential predictors of reading efficiency (e.g., interest, effort, and memory beliefs), along with knowledge, WM span, and age, are reported. Findings showed that contextual knowledge was the strongest predictor of reading efficiency even after controlling for the effects of all of the other predictors.     

Implementation intentions facilitate prospective memory under high attention demands

An implementation intention is a planning technique that involves specifying a situation for initiating an intended action and linking these specific cues to the intention. In two experiments with young adults, we found significant increases in prospective memory with implementation intentions. With an implementation intention, but not with standard instructions, prospective memory performance was maintained under demanding attentional conditions (Experiment 2). Ongoing task performance did not decline, however, in relation with a no prospective memory control. Positive effects were not observed when the imagery component of the implementation intention was isolated from the verbal component. We suggest that implementation intention planning (relative to standard instructions) increases the likelihood that people will encode a robust associative link between the target cue and the intended action, thereby promoting reflexive triggering of the intended action on presentation of the target cue.     

Working memory predicts the rejection of false memories

The relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and false memories in the memory conjunction paradigm was explored. Previous research using other paradigms has shown that individuals high in WMC are not as likely to experience false memories as low-WMC individuals, the explanation being that high-WMC individuals are better able to engage in source monitoring. In the memory conjunction paradigm participants are presented at study with parent words (e.g., eyeglasses, whiplash). At test, in addition to being presented with targets and foils, participants are presented with lures that are composed of previously studied features (e.g., eyelash). It was found that high-WMC individuals had lower levels of false recognition than low-WMC individuals. Furthermore, recall-to-reject responses were analysed (e.g., "I know I didn't see eyelash because I remember seeing eyeglasses") and it was found that high-WMC individuals were more likely to utilise this memory editing strategy, providing direct evidence that one reason that high-WMC individuals are not as prone to false memories is because they are better able to engage in source monitoring.     

Recollection rejection: Gist cuing of verbatim memory

Recollection rejection allows people to avoid accepting related lures presented on recognition tests by recollecting their instantiating study items. Two predictions made by fuzzy trace theoristswere tested. First, recollection rejection should likely occur when verbatim traces are available for retrieval. Second, related lures that closely approximate the gist of their instantiating study items should be more likely to evoke recollection rejection than related lures that do not provide such a match. In support of the first condition, estimates of recollection rejection were lower when participants studied items under divided as opposed to full attention. In support of the second prediction, estimates of recollection rejection were greater when participants were presented with antonyms as related lures, as opposed to rhymes. The present results contribute to the cued recall and recognition literatures by demonstrating that recollection rejection is moderated by similar factors as is cued recall.     

Immediate recognition memory for wine

We describe a preliminary investigation concerning the short-term recognition memory function for gustatory stimuli (wines). In Experiment 1A, 24 non-expert wine drinkers completed a yes/no recognition task for 3-wine sequences. For the raw recognition scores, the serial position function comprised both primacy and recency. Recency did not, however, achieve significance for the d′ scores. In Experiment 1B, 24 participants completed the same yes/no recognition task for 3-visual matrix sequences. In contrast to Experiment 1A, the serial position function comprised recency and an absence of primacy. We argue that the presence of primacy for the wine sequences cannot be interpreted via a verbal labelling strategy, nor can it be interpreted via proactive interference from the first wine in the list on subsequent list items. The result suggests qualitative differences in the memory processing for gustatory and non-verbal visual stimuli.     

Long-term recognition memory for sentences

The present studies examined immediate and one-week delayed recognition performance for active and passive sentences. Recognition tests included distractor sentences wherein the logical subject, verb, of logical object of a sentence was replaced by a semantically confusable, visually confusable, or unrelated distractor. Results indicated that logical subjects, verbs, and logical objects of sentences were recognized equally well during immediate testing. During delayed testing, changes in the logical object or recipient of the action were not detected as well as verb changes of logical subject changes. The implications of these results for current sentence memory models were discussed.     

Age differences in recognition memory

It is generally believed that short-term memory (STM) performance decreases from maturity to old age, but the present paper questions the generality of this conclusion. The first experiment reported is a short-term recognition probe study—no significant age differences were found in either acquisition or the rate of forgetting. It is suggested that age decrements in STM are limited to situations where attention is divided at input or where the material must be manipulated during storage. Experiment II confirmed previous findings of minimal age losses in secondary memory word recognition. The results of this second study support the conclusion that there is poorer accessibility to stored verbal material with advancing age.     

Event-related potentials and recognition memory

According to dual-process models, recognition memory is supported by distinct retrieval processes known as familiarity and recollection. Important evidence supporting the dual-process framework has come from studies using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). These studies have identified two topographically distinct ERP correlates of recognition memory--the "parietal" and "mid-frontal" old/new effects--that are dissociated by variables that selectively modulate recollection and familiarity, respectively. We evaluate the extent to which ERP data support dual-process models in light of the proposal that recollection is a continuous rather than a discrete memory process. We also examine the claim that the putative ERP index of familiarity is a reflection of implicit rather than explicit memory. We conclude that ERP findings continue to offer strong support for the dual-process perspective.     

Top-down constraint on recognition memory

Can recognition memory be constrained “at the front end,” such that people are more likely to retrieve information about studying a recognition-test probe from a specified target source than they are to retrieve such information about a probe from a nontarget source? We adapted a procedure developed by Jacoby, Shimizu, Daniels, and Rhodes (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 12:852–857, 2005) to address this question. Experiment 1 yielded evidence of source-constrained retrieval, but that pattern was not significant in Experiments 2, 3, and 4 (nor in several unpublished pilot experiments). In Experiment 5, in which items from the two studied sources were perceptibly different, a pattern consistent with front-end constraint of recognition emerged, but this constraint was likely exercised via visual attention rather than memory. Experiment 6 replicated both the absence of a significant constrained-retrieval pattern when the sources did not differ perceptibly (as in Exps. 2, 3 and 4) and the presence of that pattern when they did differ perceptibly (as in Exp. 5). Our results suggest that people can easily constrain recognition when items from the to-be-recognized source differ perceptibly from items from other sources (presumably via visual attention), but that it is difficult to constrain retrieval solely on the basis of source memory.     

Group collaboration in recognition memory

Group collaboration was examined in item and associative recognition. The present study distinguishes between group effects versus collaborative processes and defines the latter as interactive information exchange among group members. By that definition, many group effects do not involve collaboration. For example, group performance can exceed individual performance by pooling the increased resources of the group. Specifically, a group advantage can be obtained by deferring to a majority vote or to the group's best member. For both item and associative recognition, a group advantage was obtained that could not be accounted for by resource pooling. Collaborative facilitation was shown reliably in recognizing targets but not for rejecting distractors.     

Response reversals in recognition memory

Using a dynamic sequential sampling model and a recently proposed model for confidence judgments in recognition memory (T. Van Zandt, 2000b), the authors examine the tendency for rememberers to reverse their responses after a primary decision. In 4 experiments, speeded "old"-"new" decisions were made under bias followed by a 2nd response', either a confidence judgment or another simple choice. The data from these experiments showed that participants know when they have made a mistake and that they respond to this knowledge by reversing their responses. Response reversals are thus shown to be important for constructing models of the response-selection process in recognition memory.     

Visual recognition memory across contexts

In two experiments, we investigated the development of representational flexibility in visual recognition memory during infancy using the Visual Paired Comparison (VPC) task. In Experiment 1, 6- and 9-month-old infants exhibited recognition when familiarization and test occurred in the same room, but showed no evidence of recognition when familiarization and test occurred in different rooms. In contrast, 12- and 18-month-old infants exhibited recognition irrespective of testing room. Thus, flexibility across a change of room was observed at a younger age than flexibility across a change of background that has previously been seen with the VPC procedure (Robinson & Pascalis, 2004). To determine if limitations in representational flexibility across a change of background could be overcome by experiences during encoding, in Experiment 2, 6-, 9-, 12- and 18-month-old infants were familiarized with a picture on multiple backgrounds. At all ages, infants showed recognition across a change in background at test. These findings indicate that dissociating an item from its context during encoding may be an important factor in understanding the representational flexibility of visual recognition memory in infancy. Developmental changes in representational flexibility are likely driven by changes in the functional maturity of the hippocampal formation, and experience.