Recognizing what matters: Value improves recognition by selectively enhancing recollection

- In three memory experiments, using a 5-min retention interval, value enhanced recognition.
- Value enhanced recognition primarily through increased recollection.
- High value impaired some contextual detail retrieval (e.g., word color).
- We propose value focuses attention on the stimulus instead of extraneous details.

We examined the effects of value on recognition by assessing its contribution to recollection and familiarity. In three experiments, participants studied English words, each associated with a point-value they would earn for correct recognition, with the goal of maximizing their score. In Experiment 1, participants provided Remember/Know judgments. In Experiment 2 participants indicated whether items were recollected or if not, their degree of familiarity along a 6-point scale. In Experiment 3, recognition of words was accompanied by a test of memory for incidental details. Across all experiments, participants were more likely to recognize items with higher point-value. Furthermore, value appeared to primarily enhance recollection, as effects on familiarity were small and not consistent across experiments. Recollection of high-value items appears to be accompanied by fewer incidental details, suggesting that value increases focus on items at the expense of irrelevant information.