Effects of typeface fluency on the hypothesised processes contributing to source recollection

Abstract

Recollection accuracy can be significantly improved by producing written materials using hard-to-read (disfluent) fonts. Research suggest that these improvements are due to disfluency activating deeper levels of processing. While this ‘disfluency effect’ is well established, the cognitive mechanisms responsible are not yet understood. The present study involved 30 adults (71% female, mean age = 21.05, SD = 3.17), and examined the disfluency effect using EEG techniques to investigate familiarity and recollection; the two processes believed to be responsible for memory retrieval. The current study found no significant disfluency effects on the neurological correlates of familiarity (early frontal negative compenent; FN400) or recollection (late positive component; LPC) during the recall phase of a source memory task for information learned in fluent vs. disfluent typefaces. These findings bring into question whether familiarity and recollection provide an appropriate theoretical basis for the investigation of fluency and recollection. Furthermore, the current study also questions the correspondence between these two processes and specific ERP components may not be as straightforward as is generally believed. Therefore, it is suggested that future studies will be benefited by close monitoring of the theoretical assumptions which guide research.