Article by Materahub
For many years psychologists and cognitive scientists have been studying the topic of “misinformation effect”. Usually it is defined as ‘the way false or misleading information, received by subjects after they have received correct information, can distort their understanding.’ This important and sensitive subject was first studied in the 1970s by the psychologist and memory expert Elizabeth Loftus. In one of her experiments, a research team showed participants slides of a car accident, they started to read inaccurate or misleading information about the accident.
This test proved how the participants easily assimilated the fake information and the simple phrasing of a question about the past can influence our memories. In another experiment, researchers showed participants a video of a minor car accident and later asked them to report what they had seen asking this question “how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?”.
The studies into the misinformation effect and related phenomena shows how psychologically susceptible we are to fake news, false memories, and entrenched cognitive biases. It also shows how far-reaching the effects of misinformation can be on the public, especially when the misinformation effect is disseminated by social networks.
Social media networks almost seem designed to accelerate the spread of falsehoods and propaganda. In fighting the misinformation effect, it is not enough to merely correct or remove the misinformation, one of the best remedies to misinformation is education, in fact media literacy education can also equip students with the robust critical thinking and research skills they need to navigate a complex and often deceptive information environment.
Other ways to reduce the misinformation effect is by quizzing participants on what they have learned prior to their exposure to the misinformation. In other words, if asked to recall information immediately after acquiring it, people are more likely to retain it, even in the face of later misinformation.
For social media platforms such as Facebook, this means clear and transparent policies about what information is allowed to appear and what should be removed. It also means making specific and accurate information countering misinformation available, rather than blanket warnings that may reduce trust in all media. If we fight misinformation on all these levels: at schools, changing our online habits, and in public institutions, the end result will be a population less susceptible to falsehoods, more secure in its knowledge, and with more confidence to make informed decisions.
Source: reboot-foundation.org