Unveiling the truth: warnings reduce the repetition-based truth effect

Nadarevic, Lena; Aßfalg, André

doi:10.1007/s00426-016-0777-y

Cited by 43 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…It is present with repetition intervals from minutes (Brown & Nix, 1996) to weeks (Garcia-Marques, Silva, Reber, & Unkelbach, 2015) to months (Schwartz, 1982). It occurs even when people are explicitly warned about its nature (Nadarevic & Aßfalg, 2017), when people have knowledge regarding the statements (Fazio, Brashier, Payne, & Marsh, 2015), when people are motivated to arrive at accurate evaluations (Garcia-Marques, Silva, & Mello, 2016), and when explicit advice regarding factual truth is present during judgment (Unkelbach & Greifeneder, 2018). So why do people believe repeated information?…”

Section: The Repetition-induced Truth Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Truth by Repetition: Explanations and Implications

Unkelbach

Koch

Silva

et al. 2019

Curr Dir Psychol Sci

147

106

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People believe repeated information more than novel information; they show a repetition-induced truth effect. In a world of “alternative facts,” “fake news,” and strategic information management, understanding this effect is highly important. We first review explanations of the effect based on frequency, recognition, familiarity, and coherent references. On the basis of the latter explanation, we discuss the relations of these explanations. We then discuss implications of truth by repetition for the maintenance of false beliefs and ways to change potentially harmful false beliefs (e.g., “Vaccination causes autism”), illustrating that the truth-by-repetition phenomenon not only is of theoretical interest but also has immediate practical relevance.

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Section: The Repetition-induced Truth Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Truth by Repetition: Explanations and Implications

Unkelbach

Koch

Silva

et al. 2019

Curr Dir Psychol Sci

147

106

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A meta-analysis has demonstrated the robustness of this effect (Dechêne et al 2010 ). In addition, warnings sometimes reduce but do not eliminate the illusory truth effect (Nadarevic and Aßflag 2017 ), and knowledge of statements’ veracity does not eliminate the effect (Fazio et al 2015 ). The effect has also been replicated in the context of subjective sociopolitical statements (Arkes et al 1989 ) and consumer opinions (Johar and Roggeveen 2007 ), and it can be detected weeks (Bacon 1979 ; Garcia-Marques et al 2015 ) and even months later (Schwartz 1982 ).…”

Section: Statement Of Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

An initial accuracy focus reduces the effect of prior exposure on perceived accuracy of news headlines

Calvillo

Smelter

2020

Cogn. Research

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The illusory truth effect occurs when the repetition of a claim increases its perceived truth. Previous studies have demonstrated the illusory truth effect with true and false news headlines. The present study examined the effects that different ratings made during initial exposure have on the illusory truth effect with news headlines. In two experiments, participants (total N = 575) rated a set of news headlines in one of two conditions. Some participants rated how interesting they were, and others rated how truthful they were. Participants later rated the perceived accuracy of a larger set of headlines that included previously rated and new headlines. In both experiments, prior exposure increased perceived accuracy for participants who made initial interest ratings, but not for participants who made initial truthfulness ratings. The increase in perceived accuracy that accompanies repeated exposure was attenuated when participants considered the accuracy of the headlines at initial exposure. Experiment 2 also found evidence for a political bias: participants rated politically concordant headlines as more accurate than politically discordant headlines. The magnitude of this bias was related to performance on a cognitive reflection test; more analytic participants demonstrated greater political bias. These results highlight challenges that fake news presents and suggest that initially encoding headlines’ perceived truth can serve to combat the illusion that a familiar headline is a truthful one.

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“…In a typical truth effect study (e.g., Nadarevic & Aßfalg, 2016), participants first read a set of statements in a non-truth judgment task (e.g., judgment of interest, categorization, or reading). In a second task, participants judge the truth both of statements they saw in the first task and of new ones (i.e., not displayed in the first task).…”

Section: Surveys Of Conspiracism In the French General Publicmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Believing Conspiracy Theories We Remember: Analyses of Two Large-Scale Surveys of Conspiracism in the French General Public

Béna¹,

Carreras²,

Terrier³

2019

Preprint

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Why individuals believe in conspiracy theories is a theoretical question with practical implications. Research has mostly focused on individual differences and motives, and we therefore know little about how manipulated variables may affect conspiracism. Based on the truth effect literature, which has demonstrated that statements already seen (or perceived as already seen) are more likely to be judged as true than new ones, we hypothesized that repeated exposure to conspiracy theories can increase the likelihood of their being believed. If this were confirmed, it would help to challenge truth ambiguity as a boundary condition of the truth effect. As an initial test of this hypothesis, we analyzed data from two surveys conducted in representative samples of the French population (IFOP, 2017, 2019). Participants indicated both their adherence to and recognition of conspiracy statements in each survey, corresponding to a total of 17 widespread conspiracy theories. We found a truth effect in each dataset, although with different magnitudes. This truth effect was positively associated with a conspiracy mentality. These results suggest that individuals may form beliefs in conspiracy theories through the truth effect, and lend further weight to the reassessment of truth ambiguity as a boundary condition of the truth effect.

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Unveiling the truth: warnings reduce the repetition-based truth effect

Cited by 43 publications

References 52 publications

Truth by Repetition: Explanations and Implications

Truth by Repetition: Explanations and Implications

An initial accuracy focus reduces the effect of prior exposure on perceived accuracy of news headlines

On Believing Conspiracy Theories We Remember: Analyses of Two Large-Scale Surveys of Conspiracism in the French General Public

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