Influence Of Frequency?Lag And Modality On Recognition And Repetition Priming:Evidences From An ERP Study

The relationship between explicit memory and implicit memory is one of the hot topics in memory research field.The neural mechanism of explicit memory and implicit memory have been extensively investigated,and a relatively accepted implication is that they are distinctive from each other.However,latest researches have shown that the brain regions activated during explicit and implicit memory are overlapping.Although many researchers have used different theories to interpret these distinctions,such as memory systems theory framework,processing modes theory framework,component of processing theory framework and type token theory,they fail to reach a consensus.In particular,the evidence described here suggests that it's hard to compare explicit and implicit memory directly,since they are examined differently in terms of paradigms,stimulus types,time lags or stimuli presentation modals.Therefore,the goal of the present study was to investigate the factors that influence explicit and implicit memory and relevant mechanisms.We conducted four ERPexperiments(the first and second were recognition,and the third and fourth were repetition priming),all of which were identical in the procedure(revised continuous recognition),the word frequency(high,low),lag(for example,paradigms with several intervening items or a few seconds between both presentations)and stimuli presentation modals(display visual and auditory).Experiment One and Three adopted high frequency words,and Experiment Two and Four adopted low frequency words as stimuli.In Experiment One and Two,the subjects,decided whether the stimuli were studied or not.In Experiment Three and Four,participants were instructed to judge the modal of the stimuli.For Experiment One and Two,lag,presentation and modal type modulated the new/old effects,FN400 and LPC.Compariosn of the two experiments showed that word frequency also influenced FN400 and LPC.For Experiment Three and Four,lag,presentation and modal type modulated the priming effects,N400 and LPC.Compariosn of the two experiments showed that word frequency also influenced N400 and LPC.In summary,from the four experiments we can draw following conclusions:(1)Lag,presentation and modal type influence the the new/old effects and the priming effects;(2)The above factors played different roles in explicit and implicit memory,suggesting they are distinctive.