Recalling episodic and semantic information about famous faces and voices.
In this study, we used the distinction between remember and know (R/K) recognition responses to investigate the retrieval of episodic information during familiar face and voice recognition. The results showed that familiar faces presented in standard format were recognized with R responses on approximately 50% of the trials. The corresponding figure for voices was less than 20%. Even when overall levels of recognition were matched between faces and voices by blurring the faces, significantly more R responses were observed for faces than for voices. Voices were significantly more likely to be recognized with K responses than were blurred faces. These findings indicate that episodic information was recalled more often from familiar faces than from familiar voices. The results also showed that episodic information about a familiar person was never recalled unless some semantic information, such as the person's occupation, was also retrieved.
University of Essex, Colchester, England.
Ljubica
L
Damjanovic
J Richard
JR
Hanley
D000328:Adult; D005145:Face; D005197:Famous Persons; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall; D011930:Reaction Time; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012660:Semantics; D014831:Voice