Recognition memory: A cue and information analysis

This paper argues that the most fundamental level of analysis is in terms of the cues used, with the next level referring to the nature of the information employed as evidence.

Abstract

Recall and recognition are operationally distinct procedures, yet there is increasing evidence for the involvement of recall in recognition decisions. Although this observation is not generally disputed, there has been no agreement about the appropriate level of theoretical analysis. Our contention in this paper is that the most fundamental level of analysis is in terms of the cues used, with the next level referring to the nature of the information employed as evidence. We compare at length two dual-information models to demonstrate important differences in their cuing assumptions and the difficulty of establishing that anything more than a cue analysis is required. We conclude tentatively in support of an information distinction and devote the final section to determining whether item information is contextually descriptive or is a strength variable that merely correlates with occurrence in the experiment.