The effect of self-generated information on the plausibility of unlikely autobiographical events

Plausibility of unlikely events was investigated using a pre-test and post-test of the Life Events Inventory (Garry, et al, 1996). Students (N = 55) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas completed two sessions, including a plausibility scenario phase in which they were asked to describe four events chosen by the researcher from the pre-test on the basis of reported plausibility. Two of the events were rated low in plausibility and two were rated high in plausibility. Results indicate that plausibility ratings increase more for low rated items when participants are asked to describe those items than for control items which are not described