Intuitively, certain apps are sure to perform: Netflix, for example, is a highly familiar format on the TV.
In addition, speech perception is facilitated when a highly familiar voice is presented suggesting that familiarity may even help listeners to compensate for sensory or cognitive decline (Johnsrude et al., 2013).
In that study, the Familiarity control rats were simultaneously shown a highly familiar object (from the previous trial) and an object that is less recent but still highly familiar (used in all previous sessions).
An apt comparison for The Lego Movie might be The Simpsons Movie, since they are both non-sequels featuring a highly familiar brand.
Participants completed two synchronous and two asynchronous blocks with the same methods as in the main experiment, apart from the fact that the participants' own face was replaced by the face of a highly familiar face across all phases of the experiments, while the other face was that of an unfamiliar person.
While it is normal to show increased levels of anxiety in highly novel and unfamiliar situations, it is maladaptive to express anxiety in a highly familiar context [4].
The control group (Group Familiar) was given the same pairs of objects, but they were all highly familiar, having been exposed to the rats on every previous test session.
Given that the stimuli in these matching tests are all highly familiar, the response differences are likely to rely on either differences in recency or contextual (e.g., trial information) factors.
To ensure that this effect was self-specific and not simply due to the presence of synchronous visuo-tactile stimulation, 6 new participants performed a control experiment in which their own face was replaced by the face of a highly familiar face across all phases of the experiment.
The result is a highly engaging yet rather familiar road movie.
