Further evidence of discontinuity in learning to recognize

Abstract

Many current models of recognition learning assume that Ss do discriminate many degrees of familiarity and that recognition responses grow out of comparative judgments of the “most familiar” item. But direct examination of acquisition functions for single items and individual Ss reveals discrete transitions at the trial of the first correct response, from low to high confidence, and from long to short response times. Further, response times in multiple-choice tests indicate that, when S is correct, the search is terminated as soon as the correct item is located. This further evidence of discontinuity in recognition learning stands in contrast to the lack of direct support for continua of “familiarity” or “apparent oldness.”