If familiarity is inherently positive, as it seems to be, positivity might itself cue perceived familiarity.   We assessed this idea in three experiments.  In Experiment 1, subliminal association with positive affect (a positively valenced prime) led to (false) recognition of stimuli as familiar, just as fluency enhancement does.   In Experiment 2,  stimuli that elicited a positive reaction were judged as more familiar than otherwise identical stimuli that did not.  In Experiment 3, induced positive mood increased ostensible validity judgments in the same way that manipulations of familiarity typically do.  Despite their very different paradigms and approach, the results of the studies converge on the idea that positivity cues familiarity. 

This research has been conducted in collaboration with Heather Claypool (UCSB),  Teresa Garcia-Marques (ISPA - Lisbon), and Leonel Garcia-Marques (University of Lisbon)