Facial Recall: Feature-Conjunction Effects in Source Retrieval Versus Item Recognition.

Within memory processing, feature and conjunction effects refer to higher false alarms (incorrectly naming items as previously seen) for stimuli with partial/all features taken from different previously studied versus novel items. In this study, we compared feature-conjunction effects in the memory tasks of both item recognition and source retrieval, using faces as stimuli. We found greater feature-conjunction effects on source retrieval versus item recognition tasks, though participants gave slower responses on source retrieval versus item recognition. Thus, our data were consistent with dual-process memory theory in which familiarity contributes to high false alarms in compound faces even while feature-conjunction effects enhance recollection in source retrieval.