Experimental Psychology Seminar - Recollection and familiarity measures in recognition memory

Speaker: Helen Williams, Keele University

Dual-process theories of memory posit that recognition can be achieved through two separable processes – recollection of specific contextual information or evaluation of familiarity. One paradigm that has been used extensively in the study of recognition processes is the Remember-Know (RK) paradigm.  However, definitions of Remembering and Knowing and the RK procedures used by researchers can differ widely across studies, resulting in different patterns of results making it difficult to make cross-study comparisons.  I will describe a series of experiments investigating the reliability of various conceptualisations and methods of measurement of the subjective recognition states that accompany recognition and discuss implications for future research in this area.