Document Type
Article
Publication Title
iScience
Abstract
Episodic memory is accounted for with two processes: “familiarity” when generally recognizing an item and “recollection” when retrieving the full contextual details bound with the item. We tested a combination of item recognition confidence and source memory, focusing upon three conditions: “item-only hits with source unknown” (‘item familiarity’), “low-confidence hits with correct source memory” (‘context familiarity’), and “high-confidence hits with correct source memory” (‘recollection’). Behaviorally, context familiarity was slower than the others during item recognition, but faster during source memory. Electrophysiologically, a triple dissociation was evident in event-related potentials (ERPs), which was independently replicated. Context familiarity exhibited a negative effect from 800 to 1200 ms, differentiated from positive ERPs for item-familiarity (400–600 ms) and recollection (600–900 ms). These three conditions thus reflect mutually exclusive, fundamentally different processes of episodic memory, and we offer a new, tri-component model of memory. Context familiarity is a third distinct process of episodic memory.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.111439
Publication Date
11-22-2024
Recommended Citation
Addante, R. J., Clise, E., Waechter, R., Bengson, J., Drane, D. L., & Perez-Caban, J. (2024). Context familiarity is a third kind of episodic memory distinct from item familiarity and recollection. iScience, 27(12), 111439. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.111439
