Retrieval-Based and Familiarity-Based Recognition and the Quality of Information in Episodic Memory

Abstract

The results of three experiments are reported which involved the use of both a recognition task and a recall task for target items. In the first two experiments the associative relationship between cue and target members of pairs of words was investigated. The results indicated that as associative relatedness increased correct recognition responses that were accompanied by successful cued recall of the same target items also increased. However, when correct recognition responses were not accompanied by successful cued recall, they increased in frequency as associative relatedness declined. The third experiment involved both a type of processing manipulation and levels of processing manipulation in a study which involved both free recall and recognition of target items. The results indicated that with both processing manipulations, a semantic emphasis at study led to more correct recognition responses also accompanied by successful recall while a nonsemantic emphasis at study led to more correct recognition responses that are not recalled. The results of these experiments and their implications for two types of recognition memory are discussed in the context of other recent findings in the field.