Faces and the revelation effect: Effect of rotation and reinstatement

In revelation effect studies, some recognition test items are distorted and must be discovered or revealed before a recognition judgment can be made. Participants show a greater tendency to judge these items as having been studied compared to items that do not need to be revealed. Three experiments investigated whether this effect extends to face recognition. Participants studied photographs of human faces presented in an upright position. In Experiment 1, distortion by rotation without revelation decreased recognition accuracy. In Experiment 2, participants made two recognition judgments, one when the photograph was rotated and the other after it was revealed, and such reinstatement of orientation improved recognition accuracy, although no revelation effect emerged. In Experiment 3, participants made only one recognition judgment, after the photograph was revealed, and a healthy revelation effect emerged. Revealed photographs were more likely to be judged as having been studied than photographs already in upright position.