Abstract
In three experiments, the effect of identification of a briefly presented word (prime) on a subsequent recognition response to that word (target) was investigated. Theories of current processing fluency (e.g., Jacoby & Whitehouse, 1989) suggest that prime identification should reduce P(old) relative to prime misidentification because awareness of the prime provides a source to which to attribute target fluency, rendering attributions to prior presentation less likely. However, counter to these predictions, Experiment 1 demonstrated that prime identification increased P(old) relative to misidentified primes. It is hypothesized that this reversed effect was due to participants’ using a heuristic that related prime identification success to prior presentation but was not based on current processing fluency. In Experiment 2, participants were induced to avoid using this heuristic by making an alternate source for prime identification success (display duration) highly available. Under these circumstances, prime identification reduced P(old) relative to prime misidentification, suggesting that participants now relied on current processing fluency rather than on prime identification success. Experiment 3 replicated the results of Experiments 1 and 2, but with fixed rather than variable prime displays.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atkinson, R. C., &Juola, J. F. (1974). Search and decision processes in recognition memory. In D. H. Krantz, R. C. Atkinson, R. D. Luce, & P. Suppes (Eds.),Contemporary developments in mathematical psychology: Vol. 1. Learning, memory and thinking (pp. 243–293). San Francisco: Freeman.
Atkinson, R. C., &Wescourt, K. T. (1975). Some remarks on a theory of memory. In P. M. A. Rabbitt & S. Dornic (Eds.),Attention and performance V (pp. 485–498). New York: Academic Press.
Begg, I., &Armour, V. (1991). Repetition and the ring of truth: Biasing comments.Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science,23, 195–213.
Bernstein, I., &Welch, K. (1991). Awareness, false recognition, and the Jacoby-Whitehouse effect.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,120, 324–328.
Dorfman, J., Kihlstrom, J. F., Cork, R. C., &Misiaszek, J. (1995). Priming and recognition in ECT-induced amnesia.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,2, 244–248.
Higham, P. A., & Vokey, J. R. (2000).Illusory recollection. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Jacoby, L. (1991). A process dissociation framework: Separating automatic from intentional uses of memory.Journal of Memory & Language,30, 513–541.
Jacoby, L., Allan, L., Collins, J., &Larwill, L. (1988). Memory influences subjective experience: Noise judgments.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,14, 240–247.
Jacoby, L., &Brooks, L. (1984). Nonanalytic cognition: Memory, perception and concept formation. In G. H. Bower (Ed.),The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 18, pp. 1–47). New York: Academic Press.
Jacoby, L., &Dallas, M. (1981). On the relationship between autobiographical memory and perceptual learning.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,110, 306–340.
Jacoby, L., &Kelley, C. (1987). Unconscious influences of memory of a prior event.Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin,13, 314–336.
Jacoby, L., Kelley, C., &Dywan, J. (1989). Memory attributions. In H. L. Roediger III & F. I. M. Craik (Eds.),Varieties of memory and consciousness: Essays in honour of Endel Tulving (pp. 391–422). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Jacoby, L., &Whitehouse, K. (1989). An illusion of memory: False recognition influenced by unconscious perception.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,118, 126–135.
Jacoby, L., Woloshyn, V., &Kelley, C. (1989). Becoming famous without being recognized: Unconscious influences of memory produced by dividing attention.Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,118, 115–125.
Johnson, W., Dark, V., &Jacoby, L. (1985). Perceptual fluency and recognition judgments.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,11, 3–11.
Joordens, S., &Merikle, P. M. (1992). False recognition and perception without awareness.Memory & Cognition,20, 151–159.
Kelley, C., &Lindsay, D. (1993). Remembering mistaken for knowing: Ease of retrieval as a basis for confidence in answers to general knowledge questions.Journal of Memory & Language,32, 1–24.
Lindsay, D., &Kelley, C. (1996). Creating illusions of familiarity in a cued recall remember/know paradigm.Journal of Memory & Language,35, 197–211.
Mandler, G. (1980). Recognizing: The judgment of previous occurrence.Psychological Review,87, 252–271.
Mandler, G. (1991). Your face looks familiar but I can’t remember your name: A review of dual process theory. In W. Hockley & S. Lewandowsky (Eds.),Relating theory and data: Essays on human memory in honor of Bennet B. Murdock (pp. 207–225). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Rajaram, S. (1993). Remembering and knowing: Two means of access to the personal past.Memory & Cognition,21, 89–102.
Watkins, M., &Gibson, J. (1988). On the relation between perceptual priming and recognition memory.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,14, 477–483.
Whittlesea, B. (1993). Illusions of familiarity.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,19, 1235–1253.
Whittlesea, B., Jacoby, L., &Girard, K. (1990). Illusions of immediate memory: Evidence of an attributional basis for feelings of familiarity and perceptual quality.Journal of Memory & Language,29, 716–732.
Whittlesea, B., &Williams, L. (1998). Why do strangers feel familiar, but friends don’t? The unexpected basis of feelings of familiarity.Acta Psychologica,98, 141–165.
Whittlesea, B., &Williams, L. (2000). The source of feelings of familiarity: The discrepancy-attribution hypothesis.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition,26, 547–565.
Witherspoon, D., &Allan, L. G. (1985). The effect of a prior presentation on temporal judgments in a perceptual identification task.Memory & Cognition,13, 101–111.
Yonelinas, A. P., Kroll, N. E. A., Dobbins, I., Lazzara, M., &Knight, R. T. (1998). Recollection and familiarity deficits in amnesia: Convergence of remember-know, process dissociation, and receiver operating characteristic data.Neurophysiology,12, 323–339.
Zajonc, R. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences.American Psychologist,35, 151–175.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF03200468.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Higham, P.A., Vokey, J.R. Judgment heuristics and recognition memory: Prime identification and target-processing fluency. Mem Cogn 28, 574–584 (2000). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03201248
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03201248