Recognition memory for faces: When familiarity supports associative recognition judgments

Recognition memory for single items can be dissociated from recognition mem ory for the associations between items. For example, recognition tests for single words produce curvilinear receiver operating characteristics (ROCs), but associative recognition tests for word pails produce linear ROCs. Thes e dissociations are consistent with dual-process theories of recognition an d suggest that associative recognition relies on recollection but that item recognition relies on a combination of recollection and assessments of fam iliarity. In the present, study, we examined associative recognition ROCs f or facial stimuli by manipulating the central and external features, in ord er to determine whether linear ROCs would be observed for stimuli other tha n arbitrary word pairs. When the faces were presented upright, familiarity estimates were significantly above zero, and the associative ROCs were curv ilinear, suggesting that familiarity contributed to associative judgments. However, presenting the faces upside down effectively eliminated the contri bution of familiarity to associative recognition, and the ROCs were linear. The results suggest that familiarity can support associative recognition j udgments, if the associated components are encoded as a coherent gestalt, a s in upright faces.