Abstract
The dual-process model of recognition memory proposed by Jacoby (1991; see also Mandler, 1980) postulates the existence of two independent components of recognition memory: a conscious retrieval process (recollection) and an automatic component ( familiarity). Older adults appear to be impaired in recollection, but findings with respect to familiarity have been mixed. Studies of the brain bases of these components, using neurological patients, have also been inconclusive. We examined recollection and familiarity, using the process dissociation procedure, in older adults characterized on the basis of both their frontal and their medial temporal lobe function. Findings suggest that only some older adults, depending on their neuropsychological status, are impaired in recollection and/or familiarity: Recollection seems to involve both frontal and medial temporal lobe function, whereas familiarity appears to be dependent only on function associated with the medial temporal lobes.
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This paper is based on the first author’s master’s thesis, submitted to the University of Arizona. A preliminary report was presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society in New Orleans, 2000. Support was provided by Grant AG 14792 to E.L.G. from the National Institute on Aging and by a fellowship to P.S.R.D. from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Kelly Murray and Jason Worrell provided assistance.
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Davidson, P.S.R., Glisky, E.L. Neuropsychological correlates of recollection and familiarity in normal aging. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 2, 174–186 (2002). https://doi.org/10.3758/CABN.2.2.174
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/CABN.2.2.174