The docs have not caught up with the code. As you guessed, the default for synchronous used to be normal, but it has been changed to full. If you want normal, all you have to do is execute the synchronous pragma after you open the db.
As another fellow pointed out, there was an unintended interaction between the synchronous setting and the cache_size pragma. If you're changing the cache size, you may need to do it before you change the synchronous value. You may also be interested in this thread: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg06478.html> Regards
