The discrepancy-attribution hypothesis: II. Expectation, uncertainty, surprise, and feelings of familiarity

In the accompanying article (B. W. A. Whittlesea & L. D. Williams, 2001), s urprising violation of an expectation was observed to cause an illusion of familiarity. The authors interpreted that evidence as support for the discr epancy-attribution hypothesis. This article extended the scope of that hypo thesis, investigating the consequences of surprising validation of expectat ions. Subjects were shown recognition probes as completions of sentence ste ms. Their expectations were manipulated by presenting predictive, nonpredic tive, and inconsistent stems. Predictive stems caused an illusion of famili arity, but only when the subjects also experienced uncertainty about the ou tcome. That is, as predicted by the discrepancy-attribution hypothesis, fee lings of familiarity occurred only when processing of a recognition target caused surprise. The article provides a discussion of the ways in which a p erception of discrepancy can coma about, as well as the origin and nature o f unconscious expectations.