Memory for Star Trek: the role of prior knowledge in recognition revisited

Prior studies have found robust knowledge effects on recall of text ideas but have seldom found comparable effects on recognition. This inconsistency was examined in light of recent research on the component processes that underlie recognition memory. Using the remember/know paradigm, the authors found that experts made more remember judgments than novices, but only in response to text ideas relevant to their domain of expertise. Using the process-dissociation procedure, the authors found knowledge effects on recollection estimates, but not on familiarity estimates. The authors contend that knowledge effects have been difficult to detect in recognition because knowledge primarily affects recollection, whereas familiarity gives rise to good performance even among novices.