(1) Department of Psychology, 0109, University of California, San Diego, 92093-0109, CA, La Jolla;(2) University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, Long Beach, Mississippi
Abstract:
Recognition memory judgments have long been assumed to depend on the contributions of two underlying processes: recollection and familiarity. We measured recollection with receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) data and remember-know judgments. Under standard remember-know instructions, the two estimates of recollection diverged. When subjects were told they might need to justify theirremember responses to the experimenter, the two estimates were more likely to agree. The data support the conclusion thatremember responses are generally based on a continuous underlying process but that specific task instructions can produce data that appear consistent with a high-threshold recollective process. Models based on signal detection theory provide a better account of these data than does the dual-process model (Yonelinas, 1994) or process-pure interpretations.