David Kellen has yet another paper out on the nature of recognition memory! His new paper offers a critical test to distinguish between continuous and discrete-state models of recognition memory, with the results favouring the latter. An important aspect of this study is that it compares models by identifying their predictions for specific parts of the data (in this case, confidence judgments for studied words that were not recognized). This approach minimizes the need for auxiliary assumptions and yields more general conclusions than traditional comparison methods.

Signal detection and threshold modeling of confidence-rating ROCs: A critical test with minimal assumptions

An ongoing discussion in the recognition-memory literature concerns the question of whether recognition judgments reflect a direct mapping of graded memory representations (a notion that is instantiated by signal detection theory) or whether they are mediated by a discrete-state representation with the possibility of complete information loss (a notion that is instantiated by threshold models). These 2 accounts are usually evaluated by comparing their (penalized) fits to receiver operating characteristic data, a procedure that is predicated on substantial auxiliary assumptions, which if violated can invalidate results. We show that the 2 accounts can be compared on the basis of critical tests that invoke only minimal assumptions. Using previously published receiver operating characteristic data, we show that confidence-rating judgments are consistent with a discrete-state account.

Kellen, D. & Klauer, K. C. (2015). Signal detection and threshold modeling of confidence-rating ROCs: A critical test with minimal assumptions. Psychological Review, 122, 542-547.