Daniel Bernstein: Did I break a dwniwo as a child? Extensions of the revelation effect

Abstract

In recognition tests, items presented in unusual ways (e.g., degraded, revealed in stages, or presented as anagrams) are often judged old more than other items. This "revelation effect" has only been observed in episodic judgements, about the occurrence or frequency of recent events. The present work extends the boundary conditions of this effect. In three experiments, subjects unscrambled anagrams in the context of answering questions about their childhood (e.g., "broke a dwniwo playing ball") or while answering questions pertaining to world knowledge that they might have acquired in the past (e.g., "fastest animal" - "elpraod "). In each case, a revelation effect was observed: Solving an anagram increased belief in the truth of answers to world knowledge questions and childhood experiences. These results contradict claims that the effect is an episodic memory phenomenon and challenge existing explanations of the revelation effect. Moreover they have implications for how people come to believe that an event was personally experienced in the past.