An electrophysiological investigation of the relationship between conceptual fluency and familiarity

Brain potentials associated with the manipulation of conceptual fluency in a recognition memory paradigm were recorded. Enhanced fluency was associated with attenuation of the N400 and an increased rate of subjects' endorsing both studied and non-studied items as having been studied ("old" responses) in the recognition test. Differences were also found in latencies previously associated with post-retrieval processing, such that in the setting of enhanced fluency (1) non-studied items were associated with a positive wave from 800 to 1600 ms and (2) items endorsed as "new" were more positive than those endorsed as "old" from 1200 to 1600 ms. The effects on the N400 may be related to the impact of fluency on familiarity, whereas later processing may be involved in the attribution of fluency to prior experience.