Rethinking Knowledge's Impact on the Illusory Truth Effect

Repeated exposure to information increases receptivity to it, even when prior knowledge is present, according to the illusory truth effect. Fazio et al. provided empirical support for this phenomenon and proposed a model that posited dominance of fluency cues, relative to knowledge utilization. This model better elucidated participants' behaviors than an alternative model assuming precedence of knowledge processes over fluency-related mechanisms. The present research builds on this by refining models and testing them with new and existing data. While reanalysis of existing data revealed comparable performance of both models, new data from two experiments (N = 324), introducing conditions conducive to discerning between the two models, uncovered compelling evidence in support of the model that assumes knowledge processes' precedence. The discrepancy between Fazio et al. and our findings is discussed, and we encourage future research to explore avenues for resolving the relative roles of knowledge and fluency.