Receiver-operating characteristics in recognition memory: Evidence for a dual-process model.

Abstract

Evidence is presented that recognition judgments are based on an assessment of familiarity, as is described by signal detection theory, but that a separate recollection process also contributes to performance. In 3 receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) experiments, the process dissociation procedure was used to examine the contribution of these processes to recognition memory. In Experiments 1 and 2, reducing the length of the study list increased the intercept (d') but decreased the slope of the ROC and increased the probability of recollection but left familiarity relatively unaffected. In Experiment 3, increasing study time increased the intercept but left the slope of the ROC unaffected and increased both recollection and familiarity. In all 3 experiments, judgments based on familiarity produced a symmetrical ROC (slope = 1), but recollection introduced a skew such that the slope of the ROC decreased.

Memory orientation and success: separable neurocognitive components underlying episodic recognition

“…According to numerous dual-process models of recognition [4][5][6]10,52], old and new items differ not only in terms of familiarity, but also in terms of their usefulness in cuing contextual recollections. Because recollection is typically characterized as a strategic act, subjects may not attempt recollection for items perceived as relatively novel or unfamiliar because such attempts would likely be unproductive [1].…”

“…For example, under dual-process models of recognition test items can be used as retrieval cues to recover specific contextual details regarding the prior encounter, and this is termed recollection. In contrast, some items may yield a sensation of recent encounter, despite the fact that no contextual details are recollected [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]; this non-contextual form of recognition is usually termed item familiarity. Alternate characterizations also exist, which instead of focusing on process characteristics, draw a distinction be-tween recognizing the content versus the context of a prior event, or similarly between remembering what and when (e.g.…”

The role of noncriterial recollection in estimating recollection and familiarity

“…To date, only Easy and Hard conditions have been examined, but if ncR is created by specific definitions of recollection, then it should also be found in the Easy condition (relative to the Broad condition) since it too restricts successful recollection to memory of one detail, and will not capture all possible recollection. In Experiment 2, only the Broad and Hard conditions were tested, and confidence ratings were collected in order to construct receiver operating characteristics and to generate recollection and familiarity estimates with the dual process signal detection model (Yonelinas, 1994). This design afforded a test of the ncR effect with a different model than that used in Experiment 1, as well a detailed examination of the response distributions and receiver operating characteristics.…”

“…To these ends, the dual process signal detection (DPSD) model (Yonelinas, 1994) was used to estimate recollection and familiarity, the functional equivalence of ncR to familiarity was examined using receiver operating characteristic analyses, and the distributions of responses across confidence ratings were plotted to assess the question of subjective experience. To accommodate the methods necessary to use the DPSD model, the attention manipulation and the Easy test were eliminated, the Broad and Hard test conditions were manipulated between-subjects, and the response options were changed to include a six-point confidence scale and a Recollect response.Recollection and familiarity estimates are generated with the DPSD model by fitting receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) constructed from confidence ratings (for a complete description of the model see, e.g., Yonelinas, 1994Yonelinas, , 2001 plotting recognition performance (hits versus false alarms) as a function of confidence levels (i.e., criterion), such that the left-most point on the curve includes only the most confident hits and false alarms, the second point includes those responses along with the second most confident responses, and so on for n-1 of the points on an n-point response scale (see Figure 2). The DPSD model uses a modified form of the equations of the PD model that incorporates response criteria to produce estimates of recollection (in probabilities) and familiarity (in terms of d') by fitting the model's parameters to the ROC data for each subject.…”

Recall and recognition of verbal paired associates in early Alzheimer's disease

“…Associate-Recognition tests, involving a combination of both familiarity-based and recollective memory processes, are likely to be highly sensitive to the integrity of the MTL as a functional unit. Yonelinas (1994Yonelinas ( , 1997Yonelinas ( , 2001) argued that cognitive, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging studies indicate that recognition judgments based on familiarity alone and those requiring some recollection of the learning event are "behaviorally, neurally, and phenomenological distinct memory retrieval processes" (Yonelinas et al, , p. 1363. Whereas some support for an opposing view has been found, that the hippocampus is important for supporting both familiarity and recollection (e.g., Norman & O'Reilly, 2003;Wixted & Squire, 2004), this conceptualization would predict that early AD patients should perform poorly on recall and familiaritybased tasks and this is not always the case (Dalla Barba, 1997;Karlsson et al, 2003;Westerberg et al, 2006).…”