Color and context: An ERP study on intrinsic and extrinsic feature binding in episodic memory

ERP evidence for hemispheric asymmetries in exemplar-specific explicit memory access

“…Task-relevant changes to ͷ perceptual intra-item features or exemplar-changes, as well as changes to the context of study items have reliably reduced the recollection-related LPC old/new effect. In contrast, the FN400 old/new effect as a correlate of familiarity is not affected by contextual changes (Ecker et al, 2007a(Ecker et al, , 2007b). Yet, presenting perceptually changed versions or different exemplars of study items at test has reduced the FN400 old/new effect, at least when stimulus encoding was perceptually focused (Ecker et al, 2007a;2007b;Groh-Bordin et al, 2005;2006;Schloerscheidt & Rugg, 2004;Grove & Wilding, 2009).…”

“…In contrast, the FN400 old/new effect as a correlate of familiarity is not affected by contextual changes (Ecker et al, 2007a(Ecker et al, , 2007b). Yet, presenting perceptually changed versions or different exemplars of study items at test has reduced the FN400 old/new effect, at least when stimulus encoding was perceptually focused (Ecker et al, 2007a;2007b;Groh-Bordin et al, 2005;2006;Schloerscheidt & Rugg, 2004;Grove & Wilding, 2009). When perceptual information was not prioritized, however, equivalent FN400 old/new effects have emerged for studied and modified items (Curran, 2000;Curran & Cleary, 2003;Curran & Dien, 2003;Küper et al, 2012).…”

Neural binding mechanisms in learning and memory

“…As an example unitization can be manipulated by encoding pre-experimentally known compound words (e.g., land scape, traffic jam) in contrast to arbitrarily paired words (e.g., surgeon arrow Giovanello et al, 2006) or by study procedures that either encouraged or did not encourage encoding the pairs holistically (Quamme et al, 2007). A problem that arises with this view is the difficulty to exactly define which features can be unitized under which conditions and which can not (see Ecker et al, 2007, for a detailed discussion).…”

The components of working memory updating: An experimental decomposition and individual differences.

“…The neuropsychology literature has corroborated these assumptions and suggests that automatic retrieval from long-term memory is limited to the recognition of single items (or highly unitized chunks). By contrast, associative retrieval of arbitrary bindings, such as object-location, word-temporal position, or face-name pairings, rests on slower retrieval processes that have been shown to be strategically controlled (Ecker, Zimmer, & Groh-Bordin, 2007;Herron & Rugg, 2003;Mecklinger, 2000;Meiser, Sattler, & Weißer, 2008). For instance, Ecker et al (2007) have shown that only intrinsic item features (such as an object's color or font) but not context features (such as background or location information) automatically affect object recognition, whereas contextual information is selectively retrieved via controlled recollection if relevant for the task.…”

“…By contrast, associative retrieval of arbitrary bindings, such as object-location, word-temporal position, or face-name pairings, rests on slower retrieval processes that have been shown to be strategically controlled (Ecker, Zimmer, & Groh-Bordin, 2007;Herron & Rugg, 2003;Mecklinger, 2000;Meiser, Sattler, & Weißer, 2008). For instance, Ecker et al (2007) have shown that only intrinsic item features (such as an object's color or font) but not context features (such as background or location information) automatically affect object recognition, whereas contextual information is selectively retrieved via controlled recollection if relevant for the task. These controlled binding processes draw on distinct brain activity in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (Aggleton & Brown, 1999;Cansino, Maquet, Dolan, & Rugg, 2002;Rugg, Fletcher, Chua, & Dolan, 1999), and in line with this, Van Petten, Senkfor, and Newberg (2000) showed that recognition of objects in locations-as compared with mere object recognition-elicits additional late prefrontal brain activity, interpreted as controlled retrieval and evaluation of source information.…”