The contribution of familiarity to within- and between-domain associative recognition memory: Use of a modified remember/know procedure

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent to which familiarity can support associative recognition memory as a function of whether the associations are within- or between-domain. Standard recognition and familiarity only performance were compared in different participants, using a new adaptation of the remember/know procedure. The results indicated that within-domain (face–face) associative recognition was mainly supported by familiarity. In contrast, familiarity provided relatively poor support to between-domain (face–name) associative recognition for which optimal performance required a major recollection contribution. These findings suggest that familiarity can support associative recognition memory, particularly for within-domain associations, and contrast with the widely held view that associative recognition depends largely on recollection.

Keywords:

• Recognition memory
• Associative memory
• Familiarity

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), Belgium and a grant from the Inter-University Attraction Pole (Grant No. P6/29). We thank Ellen Migo for very helpful comments on the paper.