Objects in Context- The Neurocognitive Representation Binding and Processing of Object and Context Features in Recognition Memory - An Electrophysiological Approach

Recognition memory (RM) is one of the most studied areas in cognitivepsychology and neuroscience; yet there are many unresolved matters. Thisthesis tackles some of the main contentious issues. A model of objectmemory and perceptual feature binding is introduced and tested in a series ofRM experiments applying the event-related potentials method. Conclusionsare: 1) ERP results strongly support dual-process models of RM. 2) Familiarityis not a purely conceptual process but can also be perceptually specific. 3)Familiarity is in principle acontextual. 4) Familiarity is a rather automatic andholistic process whereas recollection is more controlled and flexible. 5)Episodic RM is an iterative process supported by interacting subprocessesthat depend on different brain regions and influenced by non-mnemonicprocessing. Thereby because objects are preferred units of the cognitivesystem in general evaluation of intrinsic features usually occurs before theevaluation of context features. Beyond these thought-provoking resultsresearchers lecturers and students interested in memory psychology willenjoy a state-of-the-art account of recent views on feature binding and RM.