title: Event-related potentials and recognition memory.
abstract: According to dual-process models, recognition memory is supported by distinct retrieval processes known as familiarity and recollection. Important evidence supporting the dual-process framework has come from studies using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). These studies have identified two topographically distinct ERP correlates of recognition memory--the "parietal" and "mid-frontal" old/new effects--that are dissociated by variables that selectively modulate recollection and familiarity, respectively. We evaluate the extent to which ERP data support dual-process models in light of the proposal that recollection is a continuous rather than a discrete memory process. We also examine the claim that the putative ERP index of familiarity is a reflection of implicit rather than explicit memory. We conclude that ERP findings continue to offer strong support for the dual-process perspective.
authors.affiliation: Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, and Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. mrugg@uci.edu
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Rugg
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Curran
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*