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Recollective experience in word and nonword recognition
1City University, London, England.
Memory & Cognition
|January 1, 1990
Summary
Investigating memory and consciousness, this study found that word frequency impacts conscious recollection, while nonwords affect recognition without conscious awareness. These findings differentiate memory components, not just trace strength.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- The relationship between memory and consciousness is complex and debated.
- Existing theories propose different components of memory, but empirical evidence is needed to differentiate them.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the functional relationship between memory and consciousness.
- To determine if different types of stimuli differentially affect recognition with and without conscious recollection.
- To examine the nature of conscious awareness in memory recognition.
Main Methods:
- Subjects performed recognition tasks with varying stimuli (words, nonwords, high/low frequency words).
- Participants indicated whether recognition was based on conscious recollection or other factors.
- Confidence judgments were collected for nonword recognition.
Main Results:
- Low-frequency words enhanced recognition with conscious recollection but not without.
- Nonwords enhanced recognition without conscious recollection and reduced it with conscious recollection.
- Confidence judgments for nonwords correlated with performance, not recollection.
Conclusions:
- Measures of conscious awareness reflect distinct memory components, not a unitary 'trace strength'.
- Findings support the distinction between episodic memory and other memory systems.
- Results offer qualified support for dual-component theories of recognition memory, linking one component to implicit memory priming.