From Encoding to Retention to Recognition

(1001) From Encoding to Retention to Recognition. MICHAEL J. WENGER & ANGELINA M. COPELAND, University of Notre Dame—The perception of meaningful, organized visual forms, such as human faces, has been hypothesized to result in an encoded representation that possesses a high degree of dependence among the constituent elements. In contrast, the perception of such forms as common objects is thought to produce encoded representations that possess much less dependence. Previous tests of these ideas (Wenger & Copeland, 2002; Wenger & Ingvalson, 2002, 2003) suggest that shifts in decisional criteria, rather than dependence on the underlying sensory or mnemonic information, may be critical. Here, we present results of a series of experiments designed to explore how such shifts in performance evolve, from the time of first encoding, through retention, to eventual use in recognition. Using both latency and response frequency information, we develop and constrain a dynamic model for perception, retention, and use of this visual information.