Two Dichotomies of Recognition Memory

• Published in: Canadian journal of experimental psychology 2022-09, Vol.76 (3), p.161-177
• Main Author: Hockley, William E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Associative Processes; False alarms; Familiarity; Human; Human Information Storage; Memory; Recognition (Learning); Semantics
• ISSN: 1196-1961; 1878-7290
• DOI: 10.1037/cep0000289

Murdock (1974, Human Memory: Theory and Data, Lawrence Erlbaum) distinguished between the encoding and retrieval of item information (the representation of individual events) and associative information (the representation of relations between separate events). Mandler (1980, Psychological Review, 87, 252-271) proposed that recognition decisions could be based on the sense of familiarity engendered by the stimulus or on the retrieval of conceptual, semantic, and contextual information about the target. These two distinctions have motivated a considerable amount of research over the past 40 years and have provided much of the bases for our current understanding of recognition memory. Selective aspects of this research are reviewed to show how theories of recognition memory have developed to embody these two dichotomies. L'oeuvre de Murdock (1974, Human Memory: Theory and Data, Lawrence Erlbaum) a établi une distinction entre l'encodage et la récupération d'informations d'éléments (la représentation d'événements individuels) et d'informations associatives (la représentation de relations entre des événements distincts). L'article de Mandler (1980, Psychological Review, 87, 252-271) a proposé que les décisions de reconnaissance puissent être basées sur le sentiment de familiarité engendré par le stimulus ou sur la récupération d'informations conceptuelles, sémantiques et contextuelles à propos de la cible. Ces deux distinctions ont motivé un nombre considérable de recherches au cours des 40 dernières années et ont fourni une grande partie des bases de notre compréhension actuelle de la mémoire de reconnaissance. Des aspects sélectifs de cette recherche sont passés en revue pour montrer comment les théories de la mémoire de reconnaissance ont été élaborées pour incarner ces deux dichotomies. Public Significance Statement Item information refers to the representation of individual events in memory, whereas associative information represents relations or connections between individual events. Recognition of items and associations can be based on recollection, conscious remembering of a previous experience, or on a feeling of familiarity that is evoked by an event in the absence of recollection. The research investigating these two dichotomies is selectively reviewed to illustrate how these distinctions have informed our understanding of the processes that underlie recognition memory.