A single-trace dual-process model of episodic memory: A novel computational account of familiarity and recollection

Andrea Greve*, David I. Donaldson, Mark C.W. Van Rossum

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Dual-process theories of episodic memory state that retrieval is contingent on two independent processes: familiarity (providing a sense of oldness) and recollection (recovering events and their context). A variety of studies have reported distinct neural signatures for familiarity and recollection, supporting dual-process theory. One outstanding question is whether these signatures reflect the activation of distinct memory traces or the operation of different retrieval mechanisms on a single memory trace. We present a computational model that uses a single neuronal network to store memory traces, but two distinct and independent retrieval processes access the memory. The model is capable of performing familiarity and recollection-based discrimination between old and new patterns, demonstrating that dual-process models need not to rely on multiple independent memory traces, but can use a single trace. Importantly, our putative familiarity and recollection processes exhibit distinct characteristics analogous to those found in empirical data; they diverge in capacity and sensitivity to sparse and correlated patterns, exhibit distinct ROC curves, and account for performance on both item and associative recognition tests. The demonstration that a single-trace, dual-process model can account for a range of empirical findings highlights the importance of distinguishing between neuronal processes and the neuronal representations on which they operate.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)235-251
Number of pages17
JournalHippocampus
Volume20
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2010

Keywords

  • Episodic memory model
  • Familiarity
  • Hopfield network
  • Recognition
  • Recollection

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