RETRIEVAL DYNAMICS IN RECOGNITION AND LIST DISCRIMINATION - FURTHER EVIDENCE OF SEPARATE PROCESSES OF FAMILIARITY AND RECALL

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that the time course of retrieva l from memory is different for familiarity and recall. The response-si gnal method was used to compare memory retrieval dynamics in yes-no re cognition memory, as a measure of familiarity, with those of list disc rimination, as a measure of contextual recall. Responses were always m ade with regard to membership in two previous study lists. In Experime nt 1 an exclusion task requiring positive responses to words from one List and negative responses to new words and words from the nontarget list was used. In Experiment 2, recognition and list discrimination we re separate tasks. Retrieval curves from both experiments were consist ent, showing that the minimal retrieval time for recognition was about 100 msec faster than that for list discrimination. Repetition affecte d asymptotic performance but had no reliable effects on retrieval dyna mics in either the recognition or the list-discrimination task.