Event-Related Potential (ERP) evidence for fluency and disfluency effects on recognition memory

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Masked priming is a technique used in recognition memory studies to manipulate perceptual fluency and familiarity.
• Matching primes are hypothesized to enhance target word familiarity by increasing perceptual fluency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of orthographically similar (OS) primes on recognition memory and event-related potentials (ERPs).
• To compare the effects of match primes, OS primes, and control primes on familiarity and recognition judgments.

Main Methods:

• Experiment 1: Contrasted match, semantic, and OS primes with target words, recording ERPs.
• Experiments 2 & 3: Replicated findings using control primes (unrelated words or symbols).
• Behavioral analysis of "old" responses and ERP analysis of the 300-500 ms familiarity interval.

Main Results:

• OS primes led to fewer "old" responses and more negative ERPs compared to match primes.
• These results were consistent across experiments, including those with control primes.
• Behavioral and ERP data suggest word primes influence target fluency and recognition.

Conclusions:

• Orthographically similar primes decrease target word fluency and recognition, contrary to matching primes.
• Prime word activation significantly impacts subsequent recognition judgments and familiarity.
• The study highlights the importance of considering disfluency effects in recognition memory research.