The revelation effect occurs when engaging in a cognitive task before making a recognition judgment increases the probability of old responses. The present study covered three main points. First, we investigated whether the revelation effect occurred in a between-participants design, using brand names' confidence ratings of knowing (C-ROKs). The following question was used for the C-ROKs: "How confident are you that you knew this brand in high school?" Second, we examined the duration of this effect. Finally, we also investigated whether the phenomenon of higher brand preference ratings, which has been considered a kind of example of the revelation effect, lasted for a certain amount of time.
For these purposes, in an experiment, 60 participants were assigned to one of three conditions. All participants viewed a series of brand names and were asked to make C-ROKs. In one condition, participants made the C-ROKs immediately after solving an anagram task (anagram trial) in the first 30 trials. In the next 30 trials, they made only the C-ROKs (no-anagram trial). In the second condition, the order of blocks in the first condition was reversed. In the third condition, the anagram trial and the no-anagram trial were randomly assigned. After all 60 trials, the participants rated their preferences for the brands for which they had previously made C-ROKs.
The results showed that the revelation effect occurred in a between-participants design. This is the first study to report the revelation effect when inserted tasks and a between-participants design were used. The results also showed that the revelation effect did not last for a certain amount of time. Moreover, they suggest that the phenomenon of higher brand preference ratings is temporary. These results suggest that the revelation effect is subtle and short-lasting. This means that the revelation effect may capture an instant distortion of memory, of which people are hardly aware in daily life.
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