Fractionating controlled memory processes and recall of context in recognition memory: a case report

ABSTRACT

Recollection has been described as both a recognition memory judgment requiring cognitive control and the ability to retrieve contextual information about a prior occurrence. At the core of this article is the question whether or not these two subcomponents of recollection are dissociable in amnesia. In three experiments, we explored the influence of exclusion task instructions on performance in a single case (CJ), with the view to understand the relative contributions of control and source memory to recognition memory decisions. First, contrasting findings were obtained between tasks requiring strategic control or source reports. Second, even though CJ displayed some residual source memory relative to the ability to strategically control this information, his source memory capacity was time-limited. Our findings resonate with the novel proposal that recollection draws heavily upon working memory resources, and provide an example of how amnesic patients might utilize residual working memory capacity to solve episodic memory tasks.

KEYWORDS:

• Recollection
• exclusion task
• working memory
• source memory
• amnesia

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the time given by CJ and his parents to take part in this research. We also thank Dr Eddy Estlin for his help with describing the medical aspects of CJ’s condition. This data was collected whilst the first author was carrying out a PhD at the University of Leeds under the supervision of the second author. Preparation of this manuscript was facilitated by a British Psychological Society postdoctoral study visit scheme awarded to the first author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. The disclosure statement has been inserted. Please correct if this is inaccurate.

Notes

1. In Experiments 2 and 3 we calculate exact probabilities of the responses made by CJ. The rationale for this analysis is that we calculate the probability that the pattern of responses could have occurred by chance. Like this, a value of .5 means that there is a high probability of receiving the same pattern by chance—i.e., we might imagine that the pattern we have found arrived by chance. At a value of p = .05, there is only a 5% chance that exactly the same pattern would be found by chance.