Abstract
The revelation effect occurs when recognition test probes are more likely to be judged “old” if they are preceded by a cognitive task. Our previous studies suggested the relation between the revelation effect and meta-cognition, but in these studies meta-cognition was not experimentally manipulated. Then, this study investigated whether a meta-cognition — after conducting a cognitive task, people felt their recognition performance worse — made the criterion of the recognition judgment conservative, and caused the anti-revelation effect. As a result, the anti-revelation effect occurred in the experimental group who was engaged in easier recognition judgments immediately after solving a cognitive task than not solving the task. Meanwhile, in the control group, the anti-revelation effect did not occur. The result suggests that the meta-cognition about an effect of a cognitive task on the recognition performance shifts the criterion, and caused the revelation or anti-revelation effect.
