Independence of old and new item processing in recognition judgment

Abstract

This study investigated the independence of old and new item processing in recognition judgment. Conventional recognition studies have focused on the "memory" aspects of recognition judgment, while new item processing has been treated as a "residual response" of old item processing. However, prior studies on confidence ratings and the brain research suggest the possibility that old and new items are independently processed. This study conducted recognition judgment tests with the number of learned items as independent variables, and response times for four answer categories (hit, miss, correct rejection, and false alarm) as dependent variables. Hit response times were consistently shorter than misses for all old items, while correct rejection (CR) and false alarm (FA) response times approached equivalence (CR = FA) for new items as the number of old (memorized) items increased. These results suggest that recognition judgment changes according to the number of old (memorized) items. We discuss the idea that new item and old item processing in recognition judgment occur independently.