Recollections of things schematic: Room schemas revisited

In 2 experiments, the authors examined the effects of schemas on the subjec tive experience of remembering. Participants entered a room that was set up to look like a graduate student's office under intentional or incidental l earning conditions. They later took a recognition memory test that included making remember-know judgments. In Experiment 1, they were tested during t he same session; in Experiment 2 they were tested either during the same se ssion or after a 48-hr delay. Consistent with the authors' predictions, mem ory for atypical objects was especially likely to be experienced in the rem ember sense. In addition, false remember judgments rose dramatically after the 48-hr delay, especially for participants in the incidental learning con dition. Results are discussed in terms of schema theory, fuzzy-trace theory , and the distinctiveness heuristic.