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Abstract:
When event-related potentials (ERPs) are compared for
repeated versus nonrepeated stimuli, resulting ERP repetition
effects include effects related to both explicit and implicit
memory performance. Substantial evidence suggests that a portion of
the differential brain activity produced by repetition reflects
recognition memory. On the other hand, less research has focused on
whether ERPs are specifically sensitive to processing that leads to
perceptual priming (a distinct type of memory preserved in amnesic
patients with impaired recognition). Nonetheless, prior experiments
using study-format manipulations have shown that posterior ERPs at
approximately 300-500 ms are associated with priming of visual word
form (Paller et al., 1998ab). Here we attempted to isolate ERPs
associated with face priming. At study, faces were viewed centrally
for a brief duration and followed by a mask, and attention was
directed to parafoveal cross stimuli presented simultaneously. This
divided-attention procedure greatly reduced recognition memory but
there was still an influence on how faces were processed when
presented again 1-2 min later. Primary ERP differences took the
form of enhanced centroparietal positivity around 400-500 ms. These
results suggest that altered face processing in this paradigm
differs from effects produced when faces are explicitly remembered,
as in our prior studies of ERP correlates of face recollection
(Paller et al., 1999, 2000), supporting current views on multiple
memory systems.
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