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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Cognitive Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1507782
This article is part of the Research Topic Modern applications of EEG in neurological and cognitive research View all articles

EEG-based multivariate and univariate analyses reveal the mechanisms underlying the recognition-based production effect: Evidence from mixed-list design

Provisionally accepted
Bohua Zhang Bohua Zhang 1Alhassan Abdullah Alhassan Abdullah 1Minmin Yan Minmin Yan 2Yongqing Hou Yongqing Hou 3Antao Chen Antao Chen 4*Helen McLaren Helen McLaren 1
  • 1 Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  • 2 Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China
  • 3 Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
  • 4 Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The production effect (PE) is a phenomenon where reading words aloud, rather than silently, during study leads to improved recognition memory. Human recognition memory can be divided into recollection (recognition based on complex contextual information) and familiarity (recognition based on a sense of familiarity). This study explored how reading aloud affects recollection and familiarity using electroencephalography (EEG) in a mixed-list design. Participants encoded each list item, either aloud or silently during the study phase and made remember/know/new judgments in the test phase, while EEG data were recorded. The behavioral results replicated the classic PE pattern and indicated that the PE was present in both recollection and familiarity. At the Event-Related Potential (ERP) level, the recollection-based LPC (late positive complex) old/new effect at test was largest in the aloud condition; however, the familiarity-based FN400 old/new effect was equivalent when comparing the aloud condition and the silent condition. Moreover, this study was the first to employ multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to decode the time course between two distinct memory strategies (aloud vs. silent). The results revealed significant decoding between 760-840ms, which is consistent with the LPC old/new effect. The paper discusses both traditional theories and the Feature Space Theory based on our results, highlighting inconsistencies with assumptions regarding unconscious retrieval in the Feature Space Theory. In summary, the current results support the role of distinctiveness (enhanced

    Keywords: reading aloud, Silent reading, LPC, FN400, MVPA

    Received: 08 Oct 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Abdullah, Yan, Hou, Chen and McLaren. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Antao Chen, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, 200072, Shanghai Municipality, China

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