Abstract
The question of interference (how new learning affects previously acquired knowledge and vice versa) is a central theoretical issue in episodic memory research, but very few human neuroimaging studies have addressed this question. Here, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to test the predictions of the complementary learning systems (CLS) model regarding how list strength manipulations (strengthening some, but not all, items on a study list) affect recognition memory. Our analysis focused on the FN400 old-new effect, a hypothesized ERP correlate of familiarity-based recognition, and the parietal old-new effect, a hypothesized ERP correlate of recollection-based recognition. As is predicted by the CLS model, increasing list strength selectively reduced the ERP correlate of recollection-based discrimination, leaving the ERP correlate of familiarity-based discrimination intact. In a second experiment, we obtained converging evidence for the CLS model’s predictions, using a remember/know test: Increasing list strength reduced recollection-based discrimination but did not reduce familiarity-based discrimination.
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This work was supported by NIH Grant MH64812.
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Norman, K.A., Tepe, K., Nyhus, E. et al. Event-related potential correlates of interference effects on recognition memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 15, 36–43 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.15.1.36
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.15.1.36