Creating Illusions of Familiarity in a Cued Recall Remember/Know Paradigm

Abstract

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that easy generation of nonstudied words in response to word-fragment recall cues can cause illusions of familiarity. Participants read a list of words and were then given a mixture of easy and difficult word fragments as "recall cues." Unbeknownst to participants, some fragments could be completed only with nonstudied words. After generating each completion word, participants made subjective memory reports as in the remember/know paradigm. We compared results obtained when "knowing" and "remembering" are assumed to be mutually exclusive versus when they are assumed to reflect two independent memory processes. A manipulation that caused nonstudied words to come easily to mind at test created illusions of familiarity. Our results also indicate that remembering and knowing reflect independent memory processes.