Selective remembering: Cue overlap enables pre-retrieval control of recollection

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 quantified recollection of targeted over non-targeted information using event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants viewed objects 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 was selective when test cues overlapped more with targeted than non-targeted information, despite consistently better memory for pictures. 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. Statement of relevanceThe ability to select relevant over irrelevant information from memory allows us to draw effectively on our past experiences. This ability is critical for behavioral control in a wide range of tasks and may account for reduced control in different populations. For example, people with lower working memory capacity and younger adults remember less selectively than those with high capacity and older adults. External cues like photographs can be strong memory triggers, but relatively little is known about how cues interact with our goals to select what is remembered. One priority is establishing that this selection acts prior to the point of retrieval, rather than post-retrieval. Cognitive control is assumed to act at both stages, but they are difficult to separate using behavioral measures alone. Here, we used electroencephalographic event-related potentials (ERPs) to show that cue overlap enables selection prior to recollection, as predicted by the encoding specificity principle.