TY - JOUR
T1 - Illusions of face memory
T2 - Clarity breeds familiarity
AU - Kleider, Heather M.
AU - Goldinger, Stephen
N1 - Funding Information:
This article is based on a doctoral dissertation by H.M. Kleider done at Arizona State University under the supervision of S.D. Goldinger. The work was supported by NRSA grant F32-MH63521-01 to H.M. Kleider and NIDCD Grant R01-DC04535-02 to S.D. Goldinger. We are grateful to Michelle Balhorn, Michael Shaw, and Alice Kirk for their help in data collection. We also thank Don Homa, Stan Parkinson, Michael McBeath for helpful comments during the research. Colleen Kelley, Don Read, Bruce Whittlesea, and James Bartlett all provided helpful comments on prior drafts, and Larry Jacoby provided invaluable feedback, greatly improving the paper.
PY - 2004/2
Y1 - 2004/2
N2 - When people perform a recognition memory task, they may avail themselves of different forms of information. For example, they may recall specific learning episodes, or rely on general feelings of familiarity. Although subjective familiarity is often valid, it can make people vulnerable to memory illusions. Research using verbal materials has shown that "old" responses are often increased by enhancing perceptual fluency, as when selected words are shown with relatively higher contrast on a computer. Conversely, episodic memory can create an erroneous sense of perceptual advantages for recently studied words. In this investigation, symmetric fluency effects were tested in face memory, a domain that is often considered neurologically and psychologically unique. In eight experiments involving over 800 participants, we found consistent memorial and perceptual illusions-fluency created feelings of familiarity, and familiarity created feelings of fluency. In both directions, these effects were manifested as response biases, suggesting effects based on memorial and perceptual attributions.
AB - When people perform a recognition memory task, they may avail themselves of different forms of information. For example, they may recall specific learning episodes, or rely on general feelings of familiarity. Although subjective familiarity is often valid, it can make people vulnerable to memory illusions. Research using verbal materials has shown that "old" responses are often increased by enhancing perceptual fluency, as when selected words are shown with relatively higher contrast on a computer. Conversely, episodic memory can create an erroneous sense of perceptual advantages for recently studied words. In this investigation, symmetric fluency effects were tested in face memory, a domain that is often considered neurologically and psychologically unique. In eight experiments involving over 800 participants, we found consistent memorial and perceptual illusions-fluency created feelings of familiarity, and familiarity created feelings of fluency. In both directions, these effects were manifested as response biases, suggesting effects based on memorial and perceptual attributions.
KW - Face recognition
KW - Fluency
KW - Heuristics
KW - Recognition memory
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jml.2003.09.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jml.2003.09.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:1342263749
SN - 0749-596X
VL - 50
SP - 196
EP - 211
JO - Journal of Memory and Language
JF - Journal of Memory and Language
IS - 2
ER -