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There is convergent evidence that the extent of elaboration on an attitude object enhances its overall strength in terms of outcomes such as attitude-behavior correspondence (Petty, Haugtvedt, & Smith, 1995). However, little is know about how this occurs. The current research suggests that individuals develop perceptions of the extent of elaboration, and these can impact the certainty with which they hold their attitudes, resulting in strength outcomes. Although prior research on meta-cognition has shown that perceptions of ease of thinking (Haddock et al., 1999) and resistance (Tormala & Petty, 2002) can affect attitude certainty, perceptions of the extent of thinking have not yet been shown to affect certainty. In a Pilot Study and Studies 1 and 2, perceived processing reflected actual processing resulting from message exposure time, need for cognition, and distraction. Perceived elaboration consistently mediated the …