Suppressing false recognition in a repetition paradigm: Study-phase retrieval and the fidelity of veridical frequency estimates

The effect of exact repetition on recognition memory was examined by asking participants from three groups to make frequency estimates for studied and unstudied items. Overall memory accuracy (i.e., a higher rate of veridical recognition coupled with a lower rate of false recognition) was best when participants were required to make running frequency estimates during study. Overall memory accuracy was worst when the presentation duration of studied items was reduced from 2 seconds to 34 milliseconds. A suppressed rate of false recognition was observed following running frequency estimates and this pattern was signaled by the improved fidelity of veridical frequency estimates, especially at relatively-high presentation frequencies, rather than by an improved rate of veridical recognition. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that exact repetition strengthens veridical recognition and suppresses false recognition only when participants experience study-phase retrieval (SPR) for studied items (i.e., when a repetition during study reminds a participant of an earlier presentation of the same item).