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Isolating partial recollection as a distinct entity in recognition memory using a modified recognition without identification (RWI) paradigm

Date

2012

Authors

Ryals, Anthony J., author
Cleary, Anne M., advisor
Seger, Carol A., committee member
Clegg, Benjamin A., committee member
Volbrecht, Vicki J., committee member
Rickey, Dawn, committee member

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Abstract

In dual-process recognition memory research, recollection is believed to involve bringing to mind a specific prior occurrence, a target item, or the contextual details surrounding a past experience. Prior research has suggested that when recollection fails, individuals can still rely on a sense of familiarity to judge whether something has been experienced before, and the two processes may be dissociable. However, many recognition memory methods index recollection in a binary fashion such that it is treated as an all-or none occurrence. To the contrary, some research suggests that recollection may actually be a variable (i.e., a "some-or-none") process. In the present study, three experiments were conducted to explore the nature of partial recollection using a variation of the recognition without identification procedure (RWI) (Cleary, 2006; Cleary & Greene, 2000; Peynircioglu, 1990). In Experiment 1, I explored the hypothesis that manipulating the amount of perceptual information present at encoding in a recognition task can modulate the likelihood of partial recollection (Parks et al., 2011). In Experiment 2, I examined whether partial recollection responds to word frequency in a manner similar or different than full target recollection or familiarity. In Experiment 3, I explored whether partial recollection, like full target recollection, could also be affected by manipulating degree of target emotionality. In this work, I demonstrate that partial recollection is a distinct, albeit rare, factor in studies of human recognition memory.

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Subject

familiarity
RWI
recollection
partial-recollection
recognition
dual-process

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