The episodic nature of episodic-like memories

Abstract

Studying episodic memory in nonhuman animals has proved difficult because definitions in humans require conscious recollection. Here, we assessed humans’ experience of episodic-like recognition memory tasks that have been used with animals. It was found that tasks using contextual information to discriminate events could only be accurately performed using recollection, not familiarity. However, tasks using temporal information to discriminate events could be accurately performed using either recollection or familiarity. The results strengthen the position that some episodic-like recognition memory tasks are a valid model of episodic memory. However, tasks that rely on temporal information may be susceptible to nonepisodic strategies.