ERPs during continuous recognition memory for words and pictures

Abstract

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and performance measures were recorded from young adults during continuous recognition memory for word or picture representations of the same concepts. Subjects made speeded choice responses as to whether the item was "new" or "old," with "old" items repeated after lags of 2,8, or 32 intervening stimuli following their first presentation. Longer lags were associated with poorer performance in words but not in pictures. A sequence of endogenous ERP components was responsive to repetition (old vs. new) and stimulus modality (pictures vs. words), and differed in scalp distribution as a function of both variables. The data suggest that multiple brain generators contribute to ERP repetition effects and support theoretical models that hypothesize processing differences between words and pictures.In conjunction with behavioral measures, the recording of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) has been shown to be a useful tool for mental chronometry, enabling more direct mapping of theoretical concepts derived from cognitive psychology onto nervous system activity. We here report on the behavioral and ERP correlates of continuous recognition memory, focusing on the effects of stimulus modality (word vs. picture presentation of a concept), item repetition (old vs. new), and lag (i.e., the number of intervening items between first and second presentation).It is currently unclear to what extent different brain systems are involved in the processing of words and pictures. The empirical finding that memory for pictures is usually superior to memory for words has been hypothesized to result from a more distinctive sensory code for pictures (Nelson, 1979) or because pictures are more likely than words to be encoded by dual verbal and nonverbal coding systems (Paivio, 1986). To the extent that word and picture memory show similar correlations with experimental variables, support can be claimed for theoretical positions that postulate amodal cognition or minimal differences between the processes used to encode and retrieve word and picture stimuli. Since differences in scalp distribution between conditions are usually cited as evidence in support of differences in the locus of intracranial generation, finding such word-picture differences might be indicative of more separable brain and information-processing systems for words and pictures.Repetition effects may represent operations primarily associated with the first presentation, such as initial schema activation, which need not be as detailed on second presentation, or retrieval-related processes, such as

An Event-Related Potential Study of Item Recognition Memory in Children and Adults

“…Rather, it was suggested that ERP differences between correct recognition and correct rejection reflect brain activity contributing to the retrieval of information associated with accurate recognition judgments (Rugg, 1995). Such ERP old-new effects have been described in many word-and picture-recognition memory studies (e.g., Berman et al, 1991;Friedman, 1990;Rugg & Nagy, 1989;Schloerscheidt & Rugg, 1997;Senkfor & Van Petten, 1998;Van Petten & Senkfor, 1996;Wilding & Rugg, 1996).…”

“…The use of electrophysiological techniques to study the neurological underpinnings of item recognition memory has increased tremendously over the past several years (Berman, Friedman, & Cramer, 1991;Friedman, 1990;Rugg & Nagy, 1989;Senkfor & Van Petten, 1998;Van Petten & Senkfor, 1996;Wilding, Doyle, & Rugg, 1995;Wilding & Rugg, 1996). One method that has particularly been employed for monitoring neural activity associated with brief memory occurrences is the recording of event-related potentials (ERPs).…”

Who said what? An event-related potential investigation of source and item memory.

“…ERPs are small voltage fluctuations in the electroencephalogram (EEG) that are time locked to sensory, motor, or cognitive events; these potentials are the scalp reflections of summated synaptic activity (for reviews, see Coles, Gratton, & Fabiani, 1990;Hillyard & Picton, 1987;Kutas & Van Petten, 1994;Nunez, 1990). A number of studies have shown that words remembered during a recognition test elicit a more positive waveform than correctly identified new words or unrecognized old words, beginning at 300-400 ms poststimulus onset (Berman, Friedman, & Cramer, 1991;Friedman, 1990;Rugg & Nagy, 1989;M. E. Smith & Halgren, 1989;Van Petten & Senkfor, 1996).…”

Memory Conjunction Errors in Younger and Older Adults: Event-Related Potential and Neuropsychological Data

“…Studied words that elicit accurate recognition or cued-recall judgements also elicit larger LPCs than new items or unrecognised old items (Allan & Rugg, 1997;Neville, Kutas, Chesney, & Schmidt, 1986;Senkfor & Van Petten, 1998). Late positivities are also triggered by studied line-drawings, novel geometric shapes, and environmental sounds in recognition tasks, and by incidentally repeated words presented during other tasks that do not call for explicit memory judgements (Bentin & Peled, 1990;Berman, Friedman, & Cramer, 1991;Besson, Kutas, & Van Petten, 1992;Chao, Nielsen-Bohlman, & Knight, 1995;Swick & Knight, 1997;Van Petten & Senkfor, 1996). This old/new effect is enhanced by the same manipulations that improve accuracy in explicit memory tasks, such as "deep" or semantic study as compared to "shallow" or orthographic study tasks (Paller & Kutas, 1992).…”