Effects of context on recollection and familiarity experiences are task dependent

Cody Tousignant, Glen Bodner, Michelle Arnold

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    8 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The influence of test context on reports of recollection and familiarity depends on how these subjective recognition experiences are conceptualized and measured. Bodner and Lindsay (2003) found that critical items elicited more remember judgments but fewer know judgments in a less (vs. more) memorable context. In contrast, Tousignant and Bodner (2012) found that independent ratings of recollection and familiarity were both higher in a less memorable context. We replicated the dissociative pattern with judgments using recollect/familiar labels (Experiment 1), and in a novel R/. F/. B task that added a "both" option to eliminate the mutual exclusivity between the recollect and familiar options (Experiment 2). Adding a "guess" option eliminated these context effects (Experiment 3), however whether allowing guesses "cleans up" or "desensitizes" recollection and familiarity judgments remains unclear. Determining which task variants provide appropriate measures of subjective recognition experiences will require an examination of additional dissociations and triangulation with other measures.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)78-89
    Number of pages12
    JournalConsciousness and Cognition
    Volume33
    Issue numberMay 2015
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2015

    Keywords

    • Context effects
    • Independent ratings
    • Recognition experiences
    • Recollection/familiarity
    • Remember/know judgments

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