Semantic relations differentially impact associative recognition memory: Electrophysiological evidence

Associative recognition processes are modulated by the semantic unitizability of memoranda

“…Following visual inspection of the averaged waveforms, the ERP data were analyzed in two time windows of 350-550 ms (early) and 550-750 ms (late) time windows, corresponding to the early mid-frontal and late parietal effects, respectively. These time windows are generally consistent with previous reports (e.g., Bader et al, 2010;Greve et al, 2007;Kriukova et al, 2013;Opitz, 2010;Wiegand, Bader, & Mecklinger, 2010), albeit falling in the later part of the range of effect latencies found in ERP recognition studies (reviewed by Mecklinger, 2000;Rugg & Curran, 2007;Wilding & Ranganath, 2011), seemingly due to increased demands posed by the retrieval of associative information, or due to the use of complex and perceptually rich stimuli, which characterize the present study in contrast to more common item recognition paradigms.…”

“…The late recollection-related LPC was also expected to index item recognition for both semantically related and unrelated pairs. However, while some previous studies report that associative recognition elicits LPC regardless of the occurrence of earlier familiarity processes (e.g., Diana et al, 2011;Greve et al, 2007;Rhodes & Donaldson, 2007Tibon et al, 2014), in other cases, modulation of this component was reduced, or even eliminated, when it followed familiarity-related activations (e.g., Bader et al, 2010;Jäger et al, 2006;Kriukova et al, 2013). The latter findings suggest that if familiarity is sufficiently mnemonically diagnostic to support recognition, recollection may be bypassed.…”

“…The studies that have explored semantic bottom-up unitization processes have commonly used verbal stimuli (Greve, van Rossum, & Donaldson, 2007;Kriukova, Bridger, & Mecklinger, 2013;Rhodes & Donaldson, 2007; and see also the relation factor in Rhodes & Donaldson, 2008). However, unitization of word pairs, in which the semantic knowledge is always mediated by verbal materials, may not generalize to the formation of associations in ecological conditions, in which we perceive combinations of objects in our visual environment.…”

Is a novel conceptual unit more than the sum of its parts?: FMRI evidence from an associative recognition memory study

“…Although evidence for reduced recollection for unitized associations has been reported before in ERP Jäger, Mecklinger, & Kipp, 2006;Kriukova, Bridger, & Mecklinger, 2013) as well as fMRI studies (Ford et al, 2010), this finding has until now received only little attention.…”

Thematic relatedness production norms for 100 object concepts

“…Other researchers have used a relation verification task to select their materials. In some cases, participants classified pairs of concepts as being taxonomically related, thematically related, or unrelated (Kriukova, Bridger, & Mecklinger, 2013;Maguire, Brier, & Ferree, 2010). In others, participants rated on a 7-point Likert scale the extent to which each pair is linked together in a common scenario or in a functional relationship (Jones & Golonka, 2012;Kalénine et al, 2012;Kircher, Sass, Sachs, & Krach, 2009).…”