Existence Breeds Remembrance: Beliefs about Mere Existence Enhance Memory for Human Faces

We manipulated participants’ beliefs about whether facial images represented existing (i.e., real-life) or non-existing (i.e., fictional) people. Participants showed greater recognition memory for faces believed to represent existing people, compared to matched faces of non-existing people. Enjoyment ratings were also heightened after viewing faces of ostensibly existing (versus non-existing) people.