Dissociating recollection from familiarity: electrophysiological evidence that familiarity for faces is associated with a posterior old/new effect.
In recognition memory research, a tension exists between dual-process and single-process models of episodic retrieval. Dual-process models propose that 'familiarity' assessment and the 'recollection' of contextual information are independent processes, while single-process models claim that one common process supports retrieval. Event-related potentials (ERPs) have been used to show dissociations between the mid frontal and the left parietal ERP old/new effects, which have been associated with familiarity and recollection, respectively. While much ERP evidence favours dual-process theory, Yovel and Paller [Yovel, G., Paller, K.A., 2004. The neural basis of the butcher-on-the-bus phenomenon: when a face seems familiar but is not remembered. NeuroImage 21, 789-800] used faces as retrieval cues to demonstrate that posterior old/new effects index both familiarity and recollection, a finding consistent with single-process models. Here we present evidence supporting Yovel and Paller's claim that a posterior old/new effect indexes familiarity for faces, along with a novel finding that recollection is associated with an anterior old/new effect. Importantly, and in contrast to Yovel and Paller, the old/new effects associated with familiarity and recollection were topographically dissociable, consistent with a dual-process view of recognition memory. The neural correlates of familiarity and recollection identified here for faces appear to be different from those typically observed, suggesting that the ERP old/new effects associated with episodic recognition are not the same under all circumstances.
MacKenzie
Graham
G
Psychological Imaging Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK. d.g.mackenzie@stir.ac.uk
Donaldson
David I
DI
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003690:Deja Vu; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000379:methods; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*