One might think that familiarity is a feeling produced more or less directly when you encounter a stimulus you have met before. The f ndings of the last few sections, though, point toward a diff erent proposal—namely, that “familiarity” is more like a conclusion that you draw rather than a feeling triggered by a stimulus. Specifi cally, the evidence suggests that a stimulus will seem familiar whenever the following list of requirements is met: First, you have encountered the stimulus before. Second, because of that prior encounter (and the “practice” it aff orded), you are now faster and more effi cient in your processing of that stimulus; that’s what we’re calling “processing fl uency.” Third, you detect that fluency, and this leads you to register the stimulus as somehow distinctive or special. Fourth, you reach a particular decision about that specialness—namely, that the stimulus has this distinctive quality because it is a stimulus you have met before in some prior episode. And then, fi nally, you draw a conclusion about when and where you encountered the stimulus