Evidence of Encoding Specificity for the Effects of Synopses on the Recognition of Believable and Unbelievable News Headlines

Gibbons, Lukowski, and Walker (2005) argued that elaborate processing explained the finding that unbelievable news headlines were recognized better than believable news headlines, and they suggested that headline synopses may further enhance processing. In Experiment 1, we tested whether elaborative synopses at presentation (i.e., learning) enhanced recognition, and we found that they decreased recognition. Instead of elaborate processing, these results were congruent with encoding specificity. In Experiments 2-5, we used reiterative synopses to create matching and mismatching synopsis conditions at presentation and test to assess encoding specificity. The results for Experiments 2-4 demonstrated encoding specificity for believable headlines, and the results for Experiment 5 showed encoding specificity for believable and unbelievable headlines. These results provide some support for encoding specificity in the realm of media headlines.