Effects of pre-experimental knowledge on recognition memory
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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories
Published on: November 14, 2018
Chris M Bird1, Rachel A Davies, Jamie Ward
1UCL Institute of Neurology and UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom. chris.bird@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract:
The influence of pre-experimental autobiographical knowledge on recognition memory was investigated using as memoranda faces that were either personally known or unknown to the participant. Under a dual process theory, such knowledge boosted both recollection- and familiarity-based recognition judgements. Under an unequal variance signal detection model, pre-experimental knowledge increased both the variance and the separation of the target and foil memory strength distributions, boosting hits and correct rejections. Thus, pre-experimental knowledge has profound effects on the multiple, interacting processes that subserve recognition memory, and likely in the neural systems that underpin them.
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