Wahlheim Christopher N, Alexander Timothy R, Peske Carson D
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Psychol Sci. 2020 Oct;31(10):1325-1339. doi: 10.1177/0956797620952797. Epub 2020 Sep 25.
Fake-news exposure can cause misinformation to be mistakenly remembered and believed. In two experiments (s = 96), we examined whether reminders of misinformation could improve memory for and beliefs in corrections. Subjects read factual statements and misinformation statements taken from news websites and then read statements that corrected the misinformation. Misinformation reminders appeared before some corrections but not others. Subjects then attempted to recall facts, indicated their belief in those recalls, and indicated whether they remembered corrections and misinformation. In Experiment 1, we did not constrain subjects' report criteria. But in Experiment 2, we encouraged conservative reporting by instructing subjects to report only information they believed to be true. Reminders increased recall and belief accuracy. These benefits were greater both when misinformation was recollected and when subjects remembered that corrections had occurred. These findings demonstrate one situation in which misinformation reminders can diminish the negative effects of fake-news exposure in the short term.
接触虚假新闻会导致错误信息被错误记忆并被相信。在两项实验(样本量(s = 96))中,我们研究了对错误信息的提醒是否能提高对纠正内容的记忆和信念。受试者阅读了从新闻网站获取的事实陈述和错误信息陈述,然后阅读纠正错误信息的陈述。错误信息提醒出现在一些纠正陈述之前,而在其他纠正陈述之前则没有出现。受试者随后试图回忆事实,表明他们对这些回忆的信念,并表明他们是否记得纠正内容和错误信息。在实验1中,我们没有限制受试者的报告标准。但在实验2中,我们通过指示受试者只报告他们认为是真实的信息来鼓励保守报告。提醒提高了回忆和信念的准确性。当错误信息被回忆起来以及当受试者记得已经发生了纠正时,这些益处都更大。这些发现表明了一种情况,即错误信息提醒可以在短期内减少接触虚假新闻的负面影响。