Expectation-[in]congruence differentially impacts recall and recognition of object features

Study events that are congruent with our prior expectations are better remembered than expectation-unrelated events. Paradoxically, events that are highly incongruent with expectations are also better remembered. In this study, we explore whether this paradoxical finding persists in object featural memory. Specifically, we examine whether memory for expectation-congruent and incongruent features of objects is differentially impacted by the processes that underlie recall and recognition and the types of information being probed. In three experiments, we manipulated the degree to which object features adhered to people's prior expectations (i.e., colors of objects) and then assessed memory (recall and recognition) for expectation-relevant features (i.e., object-color) and expectation-irrelevant features (i.e., object-shape). While both expectation-congruent and incongruent features were equally well recognized, only expectation-congruent features were better recalled compared to expectation-unrelated features. Furthermore, only strong expectation-congruence created a memory advantage for expectation-irrelevant object features. These findings suggest that in object featural memory, expectation-congruence and incongruence are qualitatively dissociable in their impact on recognition and recall processes. The findings from this work have important implications for cognitive and neuroscientific theories of how prior expectations shape the representation of objects and their constituent features in episodic memory.