Repetition and Rated Truth Value of Statements

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the effect; i.e., the finding that, when statements of uncertain truth value are repeated, the repetition tends to shift their truth-value ratings toward the true end of the scale. In Experiment 1, one group of subjects rated statements on a 7-point truth-value scale while another group rated the same statements on a 7-point scale of preexperimental familiarity. Presentation of statements in the experimental context before the rating task increased both their perceived truth value and their perceived preexperimental familiarity, but there was evidence against the hypothesis that judgments of truth value were mediated directly by judgments of preexperimental familiarity. In Experiment 2, the truth effect was found regardless of whether the repeated statements were shown in the context of other repeated statements or in the context of new statements, thus ruling out the possibility that the effect depends on a mixed-list contrast or sensitization effect. The present results greatly extend the generality of the truth effect found in earlier experiments, and they make more plausible the suggestion that increments in belief as the result of repetition may be an important factor in the accumulation of general knowledge.