During this study, S.-M. Kamp was partially supported by a Graduate Multidisciplinary Scholar Fellowship and a Signature Research Doctoral Fellowship.
The component structure of ERP subsequent memory effects in the Von Restorff paradigm and the word frequency effect in recall
Article first published online: 28 JUL 2013
Copyright © 2013 Society for Psychophysiological Research
Volume 50, Issue 11, pages 1079–1093, November 2013
How to Cite
Kamp, S.-M., Brumback, T. and Donchin, E. (2013), The component structure of ERP subsequent memory effects in the Von Restorff paradigm and the word frequency effect in recall. Psychophysiology, 50: 1079–1093. doi: 10.1111/psyp.12090
- Issue published online: 21 OCT 2013
- Article first published online: 28 JUL 2013
- Manuscript Accepted: 29 MAY 2013
- Manuscript Received: 10 MAR 2013
- Graduate Multidisciplinary Scholar Fellowship
- Signature Research Doctoral Fellowship
- Normal volunteers
We examined the degree to which ERP components elicited by items that are isolated from their context, either by their font size (“size isolates”) or by their frequency of usage, are correlated with subsequent immediate recall. Study lists contained (a) 15 words including a size isolate, (b) 14 high frequency (HF) words with one low frequency word (“LF isolate”), or (c) 14 LF words with one HF word. We used spatiotemporal PCA to quantify ERP components. We replicated previously reported P300 subsequent memory effects for size isolates and found additional correlations with recall in the novelty P3, a right lateralized positivity, and a left lateralized slow wave that was distinct from the slow wave correlated with recall for nonisolates. LF isolates also showed evidence of a P300 subsequent memory effect and also elicited the left lateralized subsequent memory effect, supporting a role of distinctiveness in word frequency effects in recall.