title: Correlates of implicit memory for words and faces in event-related brain potentials.
abstract: Prior research has suggested an ERP correlate of implicit memory for words consisting of a centro-parietal positivity around 400 ms. We attempted (1) to replicate this ERP modulation in a different task, involving only trials with correct responses, and (2) to compare the findings to the domain of faces. Two experiments were conducted with a modified Sternberg task, in which both targets and nontargets were presented repeatedly. In Experiment 1, positive ERP differences between repeated and new nontargets were observed, which were domain-specific in topography and, for words, replicated the previously reported findings. In Experiment 2, the amplitude of the modulation for words, but not for faces, was unaffected by a variation of the level of processing during encoding, supporting the implicitness of the processes underlying the ERP modulation to nontarget words.
authors.affiliation: Biological Psychology/Psychophysiology, Humboldt-University at Berlin, Hausvogteiplatz 5-7, 10117 Berlin, Germany. s-boehm@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Stephan G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Boehm
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sommer
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lueschow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D011932:Reading; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014825:Vocabulary