On the relationship between recognition familiarity and perceptual fluency: evidence for distinct mnemonic processes

Fluent reprocessing of perceptual aspects of recently experienced stimuli is thought to support repetition priming effects on implicit perceptual memory tests. Although behavioral and neuropsychological dissociations demonstrate that separable mnemonic processes and neural substrates mediate implicit and explicit test performance, dual-process theories of memory posit that explicit recognition memory judgments may be based on familiarity derived from the same perceptual fluency that yields perceptual priming. Here we consider the relationship between familiarity-based recognition memory and implicit perceptual memory. A select review of the literature demonstrates that the fluency supporting implicit perceptual memory is functionally and anatomically distinct from that supporting recognition memory. In contrast to perceptual fluency, recognition familiarity is more sensitive to conceptual than to perceptual processing, and does not depend on modality-specific sensory cortices. Alternative possible relationships between familiarity in explicit memory and fluency in implicit memory are discussed.     

Intact perceptual and conceptual priming in temporal lobe epilepsy: Neuroanatomical and methodological implications.

Explicit memory appears to be supported by medical temporal lobe structures, whereas separate neocortical regions may mediate perceptual and conceptual implicit memory. Children and adults with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and matched controls were administered experimental verbal memory tests. Performance on implicit tests--word identification and word generation--was contrasted with explicit recognition and recall. Encoding conditions emphasized either conceptual or perceptual aspects of study words and were crossed with presentation modality. The priming performance of participants with TLE did not differ from controls, but participants with TLE did show deficits on recognition and recall measures. Thus, intact left temporal cortex does not appear to be necessary for normal implicit memory performance, even when conceptual processing is emphasized at study or test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of conceptual processing on familiarity-based recognition.

Two experiments compared the impact of conceptual and perceptual processing at encoding on the familiarity-based recognition of items without preexisting conceptual representations. The stimuli for the experiments were visual designs and nonsense letter strings. The process dissociation procedure was used in conjunction with the process dissociation equations and the Dual Process Signal Detection model to assess the contributions of familiarity-based recognition and recollection in the recognition of the stimuli. A conceptual processing advantage was observed in both experiments: familiarity-based recognition was enhanced more by conceptual than by perceptual processing at encoding. It is suggested that the results may be problematic for the view that conceptual priming underlies the conceptual processing advantage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit/explicit memory dissociation in Alzheimer's disease: The consequence of inappropriate processing?

Dual-process theories of recognition posit that perceptual fluency contributes to both familiarity-based explicit recognition and perceptual priming. However, the priming-without-recognition dissociation, as observed through the intact mere exposure effect and impaired recognition in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), might indicate that familiarity and perceptual priming are functionally distinct. This study investigated whether the AD patients' processing strategies at testing may explain this priming-without-recognition dissociation. First, we replicated the priming-without-recognition effect in 16 patients who exhibited intact exposure effects despite null recognition. Second, we showed that, under identical conditions, inducing a holistic processing strategy during recognition testing increased AD patients' recognition--performance was similar for AD patients and healthy control participants. Furthermore, prompting analytic processing during both priming and recognition tasks decreased AD patients' performance in both tasks. These findings suggest that the extent to which AD patients use perceptual fluency in priming and recognition tasks is contingent on their processing approach. The choice of processing strategy may depend on how difficult patients perceive the task to be. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual priming in perceptual identification for patients with Alzheimer's disease and a patient with right occipital lobectomy.

Two experiments examined explicit recognition memory and perceptual and conceptual contributions to implicit perceptual-identification repetition priming for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Patient M.S. with right-occipital lobectomy. Participants read words (perceptual encoding) and generated words (conceptual encoding) from a definition and letter cue (e.g., "a vehicle for moving the injured—a"). AD patients demonstrated impaired explicit and intact implicit memory for both perceptually and conceptually encoded words. M.S. demonstrated the opposite pattern: intact explicit and impaired implicit memory in both encoding conditions. The double dissociation between AD and M.S. on implicit and explicit memory tasks is discussed in terms of a putative visual memory mechanism in the right-occipital cortex that interacts with lexical mechanisms to yield perceptual-identification priming after perceptual and conceptual encoding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recollection and familiarity in recognition memory: Adult age differences and neuropsychological test correlates.

Dual process theories account for age-related changes in memory by proposing that old age is associated with deficits in recollection together with invariance in familiarity. The authors evaluated this proposal in recognition by examining recollection and familiarity estimates in young and older adults across 3 process estimation methods: inclusion/exclusion, remember/know, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC). Consistent with a previous literature review (Light, Prull, LaVoie, & Healy, 2000), the authors found age invariance in familiarity when process estimates were derived from the inclusion/exclusion method, but the authors found age differences favoring the young when familiarity estimates were derived from the remember/know and ROC methods. Recollection estimates were lower for older adults in all 3 methods. Recollection and familiarity had variable relationships with frontal- and temporal-lobe measures of neuropsychological functioning in older adults, depending on which method was used to generate process estimates. These data suggest that although recollection deficits appear to be the rule in aging, not all estimates of familiarity show age invariance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental differences in implicit and explicit memory performance

Performance of preschool, elementary school, and college students was compared on a series of perceptual and conceptual implicit and explicit memory tasks that followed perceptual or conceptual processing during study. As expected, performance on the conceptual explicit memory task improved across age groups. In contrast, performance on the perceptual explicit memory task as well as that on both types of implicit memory tasks showed no developmental change. Also, perceptual processing during study led to better memory performance than conceptual processing for both the perceptual implicit and perceptual explicit tasks and conceptual processing during study led to better memory performance on the conceptual explicit memory task. Performance on the conceptual implicit memory task, in contrast, was affected equally by both types of study processing. The results are discussed in terms of transfer-appropriate processing (Roediger & Blaxton, 1987b) and unitization and grouping processes (Graf & Schacter, 1989).     

Midazolam amnesia and conceptual processing in implicit memory.

Prominent theories of implicit memory (D. Schacter, B. Church, & J. Treadwell, 1994) emphasize the dominant role of perceptual processing in mediating priming on perceptual implicit memory tests. Examinations of the effects of conceptual processing on perceptual implicit memory tests have produced ambiguous results. Although a number of investigations (e.g., J. Toth & R. Hunt, 1990) have demonstrated that variations in conceptual processing affect priming on perceptual implicit memory tests, these effects may arise because of the contaminating effects of explicit memory. The current experiment examined this controversy using midazolam, a benzodiazepine that produces a dense, albeit temporary, anterograde amnesia when injected prior to study. The experiment examined whether the effects of generation found on the implicit memory test of perceptual identification were affected by a midazolam injection prior to study. Results demonstrated that midazolam substantially diminished generation effects in free and cued recall, as well as overall performance on these tests, but had no detectable effect on the generation effect in perceptual identification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of attention during encoding in implicit and explicit memory.

In 5 experiments, participants read study words under conditions of divided or full attention. Dividing attention reduced performance on the general knowledge test, a conceptual implicit test of memory. Likewise, dividing attention reduced conceptual priming on the word association task, as well as on a matched explicit test, associate-cued recall. In contrast, even very strong division of attention did not reduce perceptual priming on word-fragment completion, although it did reduce recall on the matched explicit test of word-fragment-cued recall. Finally, dividing attention reduced recall on the perceptual explicit tests of graphemic-cued recall and graphemic recognition. The results indicate that perceptual implicit tests rely minimally on attention-demanding encoding processes relative to other types of memory tests. The obtained pattern of dissociations is not readily accommodated by the transfer-appropriate-processing (TAP) account of implicit and explicit memory. Potential extensions of the TAP view are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recollections of faces: remembering differences and knowing similarities

Components of recollective experience were investigated in 4 experiments in which participants studied either similarities or differences among faces (relational vs. distinctive processing). Subsequently, when recognizing a face, participants indicated whether their decision was based on explicit recollection (remembering) or assessment of familiarity (knowing). Type of encoding interacted with judgments of recollective experience, so that the incidence of "remember" responses was higher following distinctive encoding than following relational encoding, whereas the opposite pattern of results was obtained for "know" responses. Furthermore, recognition of appearance-changed faces was based on feelings of familiarity, rather than on explicit recollection. The results support the dual-component notion of recognition but are inconsistent with the idea that dissociations between remembering and knowing merely reflect differences in conceptual and perceptual processing.     

Age differences in explicit and implicit memory for pictures.

In the present study, the authors examined age effects in memory for nonverbal material. A picture fragment completion task was used to test explicit and implicit memory in a younger and an older group. Explicit memory was indexed by free recall of pictures, whereas implicit memory was indexed by perceptual learning (priming). Both free recall and perceptual learning performance were found to be impaired in the older group. A measure of executive functioning was found to be predictive of both explicit and implicit memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dissociative effect of massed repetition on implicit and explicit measures of memory.

Ss saw or heard words presented once, or repeated 4 or 16 times in massed fashion, and then received an implicit or explicit memory test. Massed repetition did not increase priming on word fragment completion beyond that obtained from a single presentation but did enhance performance on various explicit tests (free recall, recognition, question cued recall, and word fragment cued recall) and an implicit general knowledge test. Modality of presentation affected implicit and explicit word fragment cued tests but did not affect performance on any of the other tests. Levels of processing affected performance on implicit and explicit question cued tests. These results are consistent with a transfer appropriate processing account of dissociations among memory measures and imply that massed repetition promotes conceptual processing but does not entail a repetition of perceptual-based processes responsible for priming on word fragment completion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit and Explicit Memory in Children With Congenital and Acquired Brain Disorder.

Implicit and explicit memory were examined in 8- to 15-year-old children with myelomeningocele and shunted hydrocephalus, severe traumatic brain injuries, or orthopedic injuries. Each group included between 22 and 29 children. Children completed a fragmented picture identification task to assess perceptual priming and a semantic decision-making task to assess conceptual priming. Each task also assessed procedural learning as well as explicit recall and recognition. All 3 groups showed significant perceptual and semantic priming of similar magnitude. In contrast, both brain-disordered groups displayed poorer explicit memory than did the comparison group. No group showed significant procedural learning on either task. Age and IQ were stronger predictors of explicit recall than of implicit memory. The findings indicate that implicit memory is relatively intact in many children with congenital and acquired brain disorders, despite deficits in explicit memory, and support the existence of separate memory systems in children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recollective experience, normal aging, and frontal dysfunction.

Examined the nature of verbal recognition memory in young and old Ss. Following presentation of a word list, Ss undertook a yes–no recognition test and indicated whether their decision was based on explicit recollection or assessment of familiarity. Explicit recollection declined with age, and familiarity-based recognition increased. Furthermore, the extent to which older Ss relied on familiarity-based recognition correlated with neuropsychological indices of frontal lobe dysfunction. A further experiment indicated that the change from explicit recollection to familiarity-based responding was unrelated to changes in older Ss' confidence about their memory. The data indicate the central role of frontal dysfunction in understanding age-related memory loss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Limitations of the distinctions between conceptual and perceptual implicit memory: A study of Alzheimer's disease.

Previous studies suggested that perceptual implicit memory is spared in Alzheimer's disease (AD) but conceptual implicit memory is not. This dissociation is often invoked to support views of implicit memory that distinguish between perceptual and conceptual processing or systems. This study investigated an alternate hypothesis: that methodological differences between perceptual and conceptual implicit tests could account for differences in performance. Fourteen AD participants, 16 elderly controls, and 16 younger controls participated in structurally parallel conceptual and perceptual tests of implicit memory that required production of studied items. Results showed normal perceptual and conceptual priming when participants with AD generated items at study but impaired priming in both tests when they merely repeated items. These results are inconsistent with both systems and processing views of implicit memory and suggest that similarity of study and test procedures is more important than the inferred theoretical construct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consciousness, control, and confidence: The 3 Cs of recognition memory.

The contributions of recollection and familiarity to recognition memory performance were examined using the process dissociation, remember–know, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) procedures. Under standard test conditions the 3 measurement procedures led to process estimates that were almost identical and to similar conclusions regarding the effects of different encoding manipulations. Dividing attention led to a large decrease in recollection and a smaller, sometimes nonsignificant, decrease in familiarity. Semantic compared with perceptual processing led to a large increase in recollection and a moderate increase in familiarity. Moreover, the results showed that familiarity was well described by classical signal-detection theory but that recollection reflected a threshold process. The convergence observed across the 3 measurement procedures shows that the 3 procedures tap similar underlying processes and that recollection and familiarity differ in terms of conscious awareness, intentional control, and the manner in which they contribute to the shape of response confidence ROCs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and implicit memory: A commentary.

Reviews 4 studies in which the issue of whether depression affects priming on implicit memory tests was examined. The authors conclude that a depressive mood does not affect the amount of priming on several implicit memory tests under conditions in which marked effects are shown on conscious recollection (explicit memory). The mood congruity effect (depressives remember depression-related words better than controls; controls remember other types of material better than depressives) also largely disappears on perceptual implicit memory tests. The authors speculate about reasons for discrepancies in the literature, relate the findings to some current theories of individual differences in memory, and suggest some directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit and explicit memory for visual patterns.

The article reports an investigation of implicit and explicit memory for novel, visual patterns. Implicit memory was assessed by a speeded perception task, and explicit memory by a four-alternative, forced-choice recognition task. Tests were given either immediately after testing or 7 days later. The results suggest that a single exposure of a novel, nonverbal stimulus is sufficient to establish a representation in memory that is capable of supporting long-lived perceptual priming. In contrast, recognition memory showed significant loss over the same delay. Performance measures in the two tasks showed stochastic independence on the first trial after a single exposure to each pattern. Finally, a specific occurrence of a previously studied item could be retrieved from explicit memory but did not affect the accuracy of perception in the implicit memory test. The results extend the domain of experimental dissociations between explicit and implicit memory to include novel, nonverbal stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)