Recognition memory and modality judgments: A comparison of retrieval dynamics

The response-signal method was used to compare speed-accuracy trade-off retrieval curves in the recognition-memory and modality-judgment tasks. In both tasks, words were studied either auditorily or visually, and were tested visually. Recognition accuracy for auditorily and visually studied words rose above chance at about the same point in the retrieval episode, and modality-judgment accuracy rose above chance significantly later. In two experiments, words were studied either one or three times in the same modality. Repetition shortened the minimal retrieval time for the modality-judgment task and slowed the rate of approach to asymptote. Neither effect was seen in retrieval curves for recognition. A two-process model is proposed which assumes that recognition is based on global familiarity, while modality judgments are mediated by the sequential recall of individual traces. (C) 1997 Academic Press.