Two patients each describe a mismatch between what actually happened and how familiar or new it felt. Before revealing the answer, decide what direction of mismatch tells déjà vu apart from cryptamnesia.

Both involve a mismatch between actual memory status and subjective feeling, but in opposite directions. In déjà vu, something genuinely new falsely feels old and familiar. In cryptamnesia, something the person genuinely encountered before falsely feels new and original — they reproduce it sincerely believing it is their own creation, with no sense that they're recalling anything at all. Ask which direction the mismatch runs: does a new experience feel like a repeat (déjà vu), or does an old, previously encountered idea feel brand new (cryptamnesia)?