Abstract
In three experiments, we examined connections between item-recognition memory and memory for itemposition information. With sequences of compound gratings as study and probe items, subjects made either itemposition judgments (Experiments 1 and 2), by identifying the serial position of the study item that matched the probe, or recognition judgments (Experiment 3), by judging whether the probe had or had not been presented in the study series. Integrating a summed-similarity account of recognition into a signal detection framework shows that the variance of summed similarities on lure trials (probe not present in the study series) exceeds the variance on target trials (probe present in the study series). This prediction is borne out by the empirical zROC functions, all of which had slopes that were greater than 1. Additionally, about 25% of correct recognitions were accompanied by incorrect item position identification. Misidentifications of item position arose from two sources—structural similarity and positional similarity—which combined in an approximately additive fashion.
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Supported by NIH Grants MH068404, MH5568, MH61975 and NSF Grant SBE-0354378. Y.Y. is now at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts.
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Yotsumoto, Y., Kahana, M.J., McLaughlin, C. et al. Recognition and position information in working memory for visual textures. Memory & Cognition 36, 282–294 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.36.2.282
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.36.2.282