Old/New Recognition Memory Task

HED Task ID: hedtsk_old_new_recognition_memory

Also known as: Recognition Memory Test, Yes/No Recognition

Studied items mixed with new lures at test; hit and false-alarm rates yield d’ and can be decomposed into recollection and familiarity via ROC or remember/know.

Description

Participants study a list of stimuli (words, pictures, or faces) during an encoding phase. In the test phase, they view a mixture of studied (old) and unstudied (new) items and make binary old/new recognition judgments. Performance is analyzed using signal detection measures (hits, false alarms, d’) and can be further decomposed into familiarity-based (rapid, automatic) and recollection-based (slower, effortful) processes using confidence ratings or remember/know judgments. Neuroimaging consistently implicates the hippocampus, angular gyrus, and default mode network in successful recognition.

Inclusion test

Procedure

Participants study a list of items, then view a test list containing studied (old) items and unstudied (new) items and classify each as old or new.

Manipulation

Study list length; encoding depth (levels of processing); retention interval; confidence judgment; response deadline.

Measurement

Hit rate, false alarm rate, d-prime (discriminability), criterion (response bias); ROC curves; remember/know judgments (when combined).

Variations

Variation

Description

Justification

Standard Old/New

Binary old/new judgments to studied and unstudied items.

Canonical yes/no recognition judgment

Remember-Know (R/K)

Subjective classification of old items as recollected or familiar.

Participant distinguishes recollection from familiarity; different response scale

Source Memory

Report item + encoding context (which list, voice, location).

Identify source context of recognized item; adds contextual retrieval judgment

Associative Recognition

Test whether pairs were studied together; probes binding/relational memory.

Judge intact vs. rearranged pairs; tests associative vs. item memory

Forced-Choice Recognition

Choose which of two alternatives was studied; reduces criterion effects.

Select target from foil array; different response structure

Continuous Recognition

Items repeat within a long list at varying lags; combines encoding and retrieval.

Study and test interleaved in ongoing stream; different trial structure

DRM (Deese-Roediger-McDermott) False Memory Variant

Includes highly associated lures that produce robust false recognition.

Semantically related lures elicit false recognition; distinct false memory paradigm

Cognitive processes

This task engages the following cognitive processes:

Key references

  • {‘authors’: ‘Mandler, G.’, ‘year’: 1980, ‘title’: ‘Recognizing: The judgment of previous occurrence.’, ‘venue’: ‘Psychological Review’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Psychological Review’, ‘volume’: ‘87’, ‘issue’: ‘3’, ‘pages’: ‘252-271’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037/0033-295x.87.3.252’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Mandler, G. (1980). Recognizing: The judgment of previous occurrence. Psychological Review, 87(3), 252-271.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.87.3.252’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Henson, R. N. A., Rugg, M. D., Shallice, T., Josephs, O., & Dolan, R. J.’, ‘year’: 1999, ‘title’: ‘Recollection and Familiarity in Recognition Memory: An Event-Related Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study’, ‘venue’: ‘The Journal of Neuroscience’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘The Journal of Neuroscience’, ‘volume’: ‘19’, ‘issue’: ‘10’, ‘pages’: ‘3962-3972’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1523/jneurosci.19-10-03962.1999’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Henson, R. N., Rugg, M. D., Shallice, T., Josephs, O., & Dolan, R. J. (1999). Recollection and familiarity in recognition memory: An event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Journal of Neuroscience, 19(10), 3962-3972.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.19-10-03962.1999’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Rugg, M. D., & Curran, T.’, ‘year’: 2007, ‘title’: ‘Event-related potentials and recognition memory’, ‘venue’: ‘Trends in Cognitive Sciences’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Trends in Cognitive Sciences’, ‘volume’: ‘11’, ‘issue’: ‘6’, ‘pages’: ‘251-257’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.tics.2007.04.004’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Rugg, M. D., & Curran, T. (2007). Event-related potentials and recognition memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11(6), 251-257.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2007.04.004’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

Recent references

  • {‘authors’: ‘Wixted, J. T.’, ‘year’: 2007, ‘title’: ‘Dual-process theory and signal-detection theory of recognition memory.’, ‘venue’: ‘Psychological Review’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Psychological Review’, ‘volume’: ‘114’, ‘issue’: ‘1’, ‘pages’: ‘152-176’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037/0033-295x.114.1.152’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Wixted, J. T. (2007). Dual-process theory and signal-detection theory of recognition memory. Psychological Review, 114(1), 152–176.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.114.1.152’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Rugg, M. D., & Vilberg, K. L.’, ‘year’: 2013, ‘title’: ‘Brain networks underlying episodic memory retrieval’, ‘venue’: ‘Current Opinion in Neurobiology’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Current Opinion in Neurobiology’, ‘volume’: ‘23’, ‘issue’: ‘2’, ‘pages’: ‘255-260’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.conb.2012.11.005’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Rugg, M. D., & Vilberg, K. L. (2013). Brain networks underlying episodic memory retrieval. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 23(2), 255–260.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2012.11.005’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Wixted, J. T., & Mickes, L.’, ‘year’: 2014, ‘title’: ‘A signal-detection-based diagnostic-feature-detection model of eyewitness identification.’, ‘venue’: ‘Psychological Review’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Psychological Review’, ‘volume’: ‘121’, ‘issue’: ‘2’, ‘pages’: ‘262-276’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037/a0035940’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Wixted, J. T., & Mickes, L. (2014). A signal-detection-based diagnostic-feature-detection model of eyewitness identification. Psychological Review, 121(4), 588–607.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035940’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}