Question

Jeanette is walking down the street and sees a man she is sure she has met before. She asks him if they know each other and he informs her that he has just arrived in the country and has never seen her before. Jeanette's feeling of familiarity is MOST likely a result of _____.

Answer 1

Jeanette's feeling of recognizing a man she has never met is likely due to the phenomenon of 'déjà vu,' a common memory anomaly where a new situation feels familiar without an actual previous encounter.

Step-by-step explanation:

Jeanette's feeling of familiarity towards the man she has never met before is most likely a result of a phenomenon known as 'déjà vu', which is a French term meaning 'already seen.' This sensation occurs when a person feels an unwarranted sense of recognition in a situation that is objectively new or unfamiliar. Déjà vu is a common experience that has been described in various cultural contexts and is sometimes associated with a sense of prophecy, but it is generally regarded by psychologists as a type of memory anomaly. It may happen if a particular pattern or scene aligns with a fragment of a memory that does not have a clear context, causing someone to feel as if they've been in that exact moment before despite it being a new encounter.