The evasive truth: do mere exposures at the subliminal and supraliminal levels drive the illusory truth effect?

• Published in: Royal Society open science Vol. 10; no. 6; p. 201791
• Main Authors: Sasaki, Kyoshiro, Kobayashi, Maiko, Nakamura, Koyo, Watanabe, Katsumi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 14.06.2023
• Subjects: awareness; illusory truth effect; masking; Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience; Registered Report; subliminal mere exposure; masking; awareness; subliminal mere exposure; illusory truth effect
• ISSN: 2054-5703; 2054-5703
• DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201791

The subjective truth of a statement is boosted by mere exposure to itself or a part of itself. This phenomenon is referred to as the . We examined whether subliminal pre-exposure to the statement topic would increase its subjective truth. In the exposure phase, participants observed the topic, which was presented supraliminally or subliminally. After the exposure phase, they rated the subjective truth of the statement. If unconscious processing contributed to the illusory truth effect, subliminal exposure to the topic would increase the subjective truth of the statement. On the other hand, if the illusory truth effect required conscious and controlled processing, increases in the subjective truth of a statement would be induced only by supraliminal exposure to the topic. The results showed that the illusory truth effect was not found in either supraliminal or subliminal groups. Our findings provide no reliable evidence that pre-exposure to the statement topic saliently promotes its subjective truth.