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Noncriterial Recollection: Familiarity as Automatic, Irrelevant Recollection
Consciousness and Cognition
|March 1, 1996
Summary
Automatic recollection of irrelevant details can occur, even when not trying to remember. This noncriterial recollection acts like familiarity, influencing memory independently of intentional recall.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience of Memory
Background:
- Recollection can be automatic, retrieving details unrelated to the current task.
- This phenomenon, termed noncriterial recollection, occurs when irrelevant information surfaces during memory retrieval.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nature of automatic, noncriterial recollection.
- To determine if noncriterial recollection functions independently of intentional recollection.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the process dissociation procedure.
- Assessed the influence of noncriterial recollection on memory performance.
Main Results:
- Noncriterial recollection was observed to occur automatically.
- The effects of noncriterial recollection were independent of intentional recollection, suggesting it operates similarly to familiarity.
Conclusions:
- Automatic recollection of noncriterial details is a distinct cognitive process.
- This automatic recollection functions independently and may be akin to familiarity in memory.
- Findings contribute to understanding the dissociation between automatic and controlled memory processes.