Source memory for unidentified stimuli.
Two experiments were conducted to determine whether participants have source memory for test stimuli that they cannot identify. Using a paradigm developed to investigate the phenomenon of recognition without identification (Peynircioglu, 1990), we found that even when participants could not identify a previously studied item, they nonetheless exhibited above-chance performance on a source discrimination task. Most surprising was that source accuracy for unidentified items was independent of old-new discrimination and not different from that of identified items. These results are interpreted as evidence that source memory is based on a continuous, as opposed to a threshold-like, process and suggest that recollection may, in some circumstances, contribute to the phenomenon of recognition without identification.
Kurilla
Brian P
BP
Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA. bkurill1@binghamton.edu
Westerman
Deanne L
DL
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D003071:Cognition; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D013334:Students; D014163:Transfer, Psychology; D014495:Universities