MEMORY FOR WORDS AND NOVEL VISUAL-PATTERNS - REPETITION, RECOGNITION,AND ENCODING EFFECTS IN THE EVENT-RELATED BRAIN POTENTIAL

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during initial study and recognition of words and novel visual patterns. Words and patterns yi elded similar recognition results that discriminated correctly recogni zed old items from correct new items, incorrect old items, and incorre ct new items. The study phase data included a number of dissociations between words and patterns. Occasional repeated items yielded faster r eaction times for both stimulus types but a late positive ERP repetiti on effect for words only. The study phase data differentiated words th at would later be recognized versus unrecognized, but the patterns did not yield a similar encoding effect. Moreover, the study phase positi vity contingent on subsequent recognition was restricted to words that received a positive semantic judgment during study. The functional re lationships among the repetition, recognition, and encoding effects ar e discussed.