Recollection is fast and slow.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Psychological Measurement
• Human Memory

Background:

• Dual-process theories propose familiarity is faster than recollection.
• Existing models often analyze discrete decisions, not response latencies.
• Measuring retrieval and bias processes simultaneously presents a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and apply a new approach for measuring the relative speeds of cognitive processes, extending multinomial models to latencies.
• To test the dual-process prediction that familiarity is faster than recollection using this new method.
• To jointly measure specific retrieval processes (context recollection, target recollection, familiarity) and bias processes, along with their latencies.

Main Methods:

• Implemented an extended multinomial model to analyze response latencies in conjoint recognition tasks.
• Conducted six experiments with novel decision types beyond traditional old/new recognition.
• Measured latencies for context recollection, target recollection, familiarity, and bias processes for both list items and related distractors.

Main Results:

• Recollection and familiarity speeds were comparable for list items.
• For related distractors, speed ordering was context recollection > target recollection = familiarity.
• Bias processes were slower than recollection and familiarity but faster when accepting items versus rejecting them.

Conclusions:

• The relative speeds of cognitive processes are influenced by the efficiency of retrieval cues.
• The new latency-based approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of memory and reasoning.
• Findings challenge simple speed assumptions in dual-process models, especially regarding distractors and bias.