FALSE-RECOGNITION REVERSAL - WHEN SIMILARITY IS DISTINCTIVE

On a recognition test, if presentation of a memory target (e.g., CAT) is used to prime-related distractors (e.g., ANIMAL, DOG), common sense and global memory theories expect that false-recognition rates will increase relative to unrelated distractors. However, counterintuitively, fuzzy-trace theory predicts that false-recognition rates will decrease and that, in some instances, related distractors will be easier to reject than unrelated distractors. In five experiments, this reversal of the usual false-recognition effect was observed for associates, category exemplars, category names, and rhymes. False-recognition reversals increased with age, with amount of target repetition, with degree of target priming, and decreased with length of retention interval. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.