AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF SINGLE STIMULUS TESTS AND MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTS OF RECOGNITION MEMORY

SS (1 MALE, 3 FEMALE) WERE SHOWN 5 4-LETTER COMBINATIONS AND TESTED FOR RECOGNITION ON 1 OF THEM AFTER A 20-SEC DELAY. EITHER SINGLE-ITEM TESTS OR 2, 4, OR 8 ALTERNATIVE FORCED-CHOICE TESTS WERE GIVEN. THE SINGLE-ITEM TESTS REVEALED STRONG RESPONSE BIASES. PERFORMANCE ON THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTS DECREASED AS A FUNCTION OF THE NUMBER OF RESPONSE ALTERNATIVES. FROM S'S CONFIDENCE RATINGS ON THE SINGLE-ITEM TESTS, MEMORY OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS WERE CONSTRUCTED AND THE THEORY OF SIGNAL DETECTION WAS USED TO PREDICT PERFORMANCE ON MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTS. 2 OTHER THEORIES WHICH MAKE PREDICTIONS FOR THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTS WERE ALSO EXAMINED. (16 REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1968 American Psychological Association.