The illusory truth effect leads to the spread of misinformation.

Autor: Vellani V; Affective Brain Lab, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK. Electronic address: vellaniuni@gmail.com., Zheng S; Affective Brain Lab, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK., Ercelik D; Affective Brain Lab, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK., Sharot T; Affective Brain Lab, Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. Electronic address: t.sharot@ucl.ac.uk.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Cognition [Cognition] 2023 Jul; Vol. 236, pp. 105421. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Mar 03.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105421
Abstrakt: Misinformation can negatively impact people's lives in domains ranging from health to politics. An important research goal is to understand how misinformation spreads in order to curb it. Here, we test whether and how a single repetition of misinformation fuels its spread. Over two experiments (N = 260) participants indicated which statements they would like to share with other participants on social media. Half of the statements were repeated and half were new. The results reveal that participants were more likely to share statements they had previously been exposed to. Importantly, the relationship between repetition and sharing was mediated by perceived accuracy. That is, repetition of misinformation biased people's judgment of accuracy and as a result fuelled the spread of misinformation. The effect was observed in the domain of health (Exp 1) and general knowledge (Exp 2), suggesting it is not tied to a specific domain.
(Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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