Abstract
Transfer appropriate processing (TAP) accounts propose that memory is a function of the degree to which the same neural processes transfer appropriately from the study experience to the memory test. However, in prior research, study and test stimuli were often similar physically. In two experiments, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded to fragmented objects during an indirect memory test to isolate transfer of a specific perceptual process from overlap of physical features between experiences. An occipitotemporoparietal P2(00) at 200 msec showed implicit memory effects only when similar perceptual grouping processes of good continuation were repeatedly engaged—despite physical feature differences—as TAP accounts hypothesize. This result provides direct neurophysiological evidence for the critical role of process transfer across experiences for memory.
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This work was supported by Tufts University faculty research funds and an FRAC Research Semester Fellowship and Grant NS052914 to H.E.S., and Grants MH52893 and AG05914 to M.K., who was a Lady Davis Fellow during the writing of this manuscript.
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Schendan, H.E., Kutas, M. Neurophysiological evidence for transfer appropriate processing of memory: Processing versus feature similarity. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14, 612–619 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196810
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196810