Familiarity in an implicit and explicit memory task: a common mechanism

This chapter examines the nature of familiarity that has been proposed as a basis for making decisions in an explicit memory task (recognition memory) and an implicit memory task (lexical decision). The review aims to relate the visual word recognition literature with the recognition memory literature, two areas that to date have been linked only occasionally. Empirical findings are reviewed and it is suggested that a common familiarity detection mechanism underlies both lexical decision and episodic recognition judgments. It also argues that this common familiarity is a product of explicit memory, contrary to the view that recognition judgments based on familiarity are inferred from perceptual fluency (a product of implicit memory). The function of a familiarity monitor in a broader theoretical context is also discussed.