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Wixted (2007)

Dual-process theory and signal-detection theory of recognition memory.

Psychological Review, 114(1), 152-176

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Abstract

Two influential models of recognition memory, the unequal-variance signal-detection model and a dual-process threshold/detection model, accurately describe the receiver operating characteristic, but only the latter model can provide estimates of recollection and familiarity. Such estimates often accord with those provided by the remember-know procedure, and both methods are now widely used in the neuroscience literature to identify the brain correlates of recollection and familiarity. However, in recent years, a substantial literature has accumulated directly contrasting the signal-detection model against the threshold/detection model, and that literature is almost unanimous in its endorsement of signal-detection theory. A dual-process version of signal-detection theory implies that individual recognition decisions are not process pure, and it suggests new ways to investigate the brain correlates of recognition memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)

Reference

Wixted, J. T. (2007). Dual-process theory and signal-detection theory of recognition memory. Psychological Review, 114(1), 152-176.

What Rests on This

1 mechanism cites this source. Each finding below is quoted as it appears on that mechanism's own page.

Recognition Memory Processes

  • Definition

    Whether familiarity and recollection are truly separate processes is still debated: a single continuous memory-strength account (unequal-variance signal detection) fits recognition confidence data as well, and individual recognition decisions are unlikely to be process-pure