ABSTRACT
Recognition is the memory system that is responsible for detecting prior occurrences of stimuli in the environment. In short, deja vu presumably arises because of a temporary glitch or misinterpretation of the recognition memory system, a system that is usually responsible for responding appropriately to familiar and novel environments, ideas and people. This chapter presents an overview of the recognition memory system, focusing in particular on two key concepts: recollection and familiarity. It explains the concept of epistemic feelings that are thought to govern memory function. Neuroscientific and anatomical data can help resolve the single/dual-process argument, and the neural basis of recollection and familiarity is currently under debate. The dual-process debate is most pronounced when comparing the subjective experiences accompanying recognition memory in the remember/know paradigm, which has been used throughout the literature to examine episodic recognition memory. Koriat described the low-level subjective states in memory processing as experience-based metacognition.
