Separating Mnemonic Process From Participant and Item Effects in the Assessment of ROC Asymmetries

One of the most influential findings in the study of recognition memory is that receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves are asymmetric about the negative diagonal. This result has led to the rejection of the equal-variance signal detection model of recognition memory and has provided motivation for more complex models, such as the unequal-variance signal detection and dual-process models. Here, the authors test the possibility that previous demonstrations of ROC asymmetry do not reflect mnemonic process but rather reflect distortions due to averaging data over items. Application of a hierarchical unequal-variance signal detection model reveals that asymmetries are in fact a real phenomenon and do not reflect distortions from averaging data