title: Effects of pre-experimental knowledge on recognition memory.
abstract: The influence of pre-experimental autobiographical knowledge on recognition memory was investigated using as memoranda faces that were either personally known or unknown to the participant. Under a dual process theory, such knowledge boosted both recollection- and familiarity-based recognition judgements. Under an unequal variance signal detection model, pre-experimental knowledge increased both the variance and the separation of the target and foil memory strength distributions, boosting hits and correct rejections. Thus, pre-experimental knowledge has profound effects on the multiple, interacting processes that subserve recognition memory, and likely in the neural systems that underpin them.
authors.affiliation: UCL Institute of Neurology and UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom. chris.bird@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Chris M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: Rachel A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Burgess
mesh_terms: D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D019359:Knowledge; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012372:ROC Curve; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities