Cue overlap supports pre-retrieval selection in episodic memory: ERP evidence

People often want to recall only currently relevant events, but this selective remembering is not always possible. We contrasted two candidate mechanisms: the overlap between retrieval cues and stored memory traces, and the ease of recollection. In two preregistered experiments (Ns = 28) we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to quantify pre-retrieval selection and the goal states - retrieval orientations - thought to achieve this selection. Participants viewed object pictures or heard object names, and one of these sources was designated as targets in each memory test. We manipulated cue overlap by probing memory with visual names (Experiment 1) or line drawings (Experiment 2). Results revealed that regardless of which source was targeted, the left parietal ERP effect indexing recollection was selective when test cues overlapped more with the targeted than non-targeted information, despite consistently better memory for pictures. ERPs for unstudied items were also more positive-going when cue overlap was high, suggesting that engagement of retrieval orientations reflected availability of external cues matching the targeted source. The data support the view that selection can act prior to recollection if there is sufficient overlap between retrieval cues and targeted versus competing memory traces.