#illusory truth effect

[welesbianingtogether]

the illusory truth effect

As a former history teacher I'm becoming increasingly concerned about the effects of propaganda on us. I don't just mean us as in Tumblrinas, or reddit refugees, or former tik-tokers or however you identify, but the world, in general. We are exposed to a large amount of information daily and it is becoming increasingly clear that we can't trust large swathes of the people we follow on the internet. It is too easy now to go viral with a ridiculous claim and many of those claims are at best mildly exaggerated and at worst purposefully misleading.

I just think it's so much easier to believe a screen. I know because I've done it. I'm skeptical in real life, I'm disgustingly easily taken in online. I promised myself that when I started back up a tumblr I would resist the rage bait, but it is hard. I've been fooled too many times because like many people, I tend to believe people are telling the truth, and I tend to believe something is true because I've heard it more than once. This is called the illusory truth effect.

The illusory truth effect is how you find yourself believing propaganda or just fake facts. People make something up and it's catchy, so it just keeps getting repeated and repeated until we think it's true. Even if you know it's not, if you're told the opposite long enough, you'll believe the lie. It's why I believed poppy seed muffins would cause a positive drug test when that was only ever a throw away line on Seinfeld. But people heard it, thought it was funny or true, and kept repeating it until it became a 'fact' I knew. (Please give me a break, I was a child in the 90s.)

In the age of 24 hour news and viral content, how many lies do you think are fed to you a day? I'm not saying people are doing it on purpose, though some undoubtedly are, I'm just hoping we can be made more aware.

You are going to hear things over and over and over, until they weasel into your brain. And if you find yourself with a thought that feels completely unlike you, or find yourself saying something and a friend goes wtf, maybe take a second look at it.

Viral content goes viral because it gives our brains something they want, answers to questions that confirm our biases, a funny story with a happy ending, it simplifies something everyone keeps saying is complicated. Most of those things won't be outright lies, but I promise they will be misleading. A universal truth I've learned as I get older is that rarely are there simple answers to any question.

Someone else can add the meme, but let me remind you, none of us are immune to propaganda. Pay attention to what is repeated where and by whom. Ask why the story is being told that way. Consider who gains what from you believing something. I'm not saying become a conspiracy theorist, I'm saying develop a healthy skepticism of anything you read or watch or hear. Cultivate your sources. Be diligent.

It's a bit too late for me to try to teach healthy skepticism to the US, but maybe it's useful to some of you. Maybe you've never heard of the illusory truth effect. Consider the implications of what it means. What you hear most often, what is repeated, becomes truth.

What do you keep hearing?

Who's telling you that?

What do they have to gain?

Questions to consider, I hope.

[mindblowingfactz]

The ‘Illusory truth effect’ is the tendency to believe the information to be correct after repeated exposure. The illusory truth effect has played a significant role in election campaigns, advertising, news media, and political propaganda throughout history.

[blockie]

Recently learned about the Illusory truth effect (thanks to one of Ann Reardon's HTCT debunking videos) and it was kind of an eye-opener. Or a bit of a punch to the gut, perhaps?

Some quotes from that wiki link:

The illusory truth effect (also known as the illusion of truth effect, validity effect, truth effect, or the reiteration effect) is the tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure.[1] [...] In a 2015 study, researchers discovered that familiarity can overpower rationality and that repetitively hearing that a certain statement is wrong can paradoxically cause it to feel right.[4]

I mean, "duh", I know. But to know there's a word for it...

Let's scroll down.

Although the truth effect has been demonstrated scientifically only in recent years, it is a phenomenon with which people have been familiar for millennia. One study notes that the Roman statesman Cato closed each of his speeches with a call to destroy Carthage ("Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam"), knowing that the repetition would breed agreement.

(Bold mine.) I bet you can think of some examples for that yourself. I know I can!

[tomorrowusa]

One factor that propels disinformation is confirmation bias, the well-known psychological phenomenon that explains why people easily accept information that aligns with their existing worldviews. We are all subject to that. But it is also clear from research that certain types of people are simply much more susceptible to disinformation and conspiratorial thinking than others, and not just those struggling with mental illnesses or lacking in mental fortitude. Some researchers have found that there is a connection between “magical thinking,” devout religious faith and conspiracy worldviews. Others say deeply ingrained anti-social personality traits are at the heart of extremist conspiracy theories. Individual predispositions to rational- vs. intuition-based thinking are a factor as well, as is lower educational attainment and formal academic training. Advanced age, too, appears to make people likelier to spread fake news on the Internet.   Consider, though, that simply being told a lie or false information multiple times can make people more likely to believe it, something called the illusory truth effect, which has been studied and affirmed by social scientists, scholars of propaganda and even neuroscientists who see susceptibility to disinformation as partially rooted in the very structures of the brain.

Jose A. Del Real at the Washington Post.

Mr. Del Real‘s essay on conspiracy theories is one of the best things you can read this weekend.

Conspiracy theories are hardly new in the US. They even date back to colonial times. A big difference today is the speed at which they are able to spread.

He refers to a classic piece from 1964 by the late historian and political scientist Richard Hofstadter. It’s worth a read itself.

The Paranoid Style in American Politics

A distinguished historian has said that one of the most valuable things about history is that it teaches us how things do not happen. It is precisely this kind of awareness that the paranoid fails to develop. He has a special resistance of his own, of course, to developing such awareness, but circumstances often deprive him of exposure to events that might enlighten him—and in any case he resists enlightenment.

We are all sufferers from history, but the paranoid is a double sufferer, since he is afflicted not only by the real world, with the rest of us, but by his fantasies as well.

Prof. Hofstadter certainly got that right. The paranoid conspiracy believer certainly “resists enlightenment” at all costs. That’s why traditional logical persuasion seldom works with such people. 

[mafaldaknows]

this anon is practicing 'effism", i tell something happened or didn't happen enough times and it becomes truth, whatever i throw at the masses, when it sticks, it's the ultimate one and only

Hello, Anon:

This is what’s known as the “illusory truth effect” in cognitive psychology. It’s the same tactic that an illiterate “lingering orange fart”* used to get himself elected POTUS in 2016.

That previous anon strikes me as either young or naive, or both, or merely a troll, but in any case, they’ve sparked an interesting discussion that deserves some attention.

So here’s a little bit of light reading, to go with your morning coffee:

I Heard It Before, So It Must Be True

Repeated exposure to implausible statements makes them feel less so

Illusory truth effect - Biases & Heuristics | The Decision Lab

Illusory Truth Effect is the positive feeling when we hear information that we believe to be true because we've heard the information before

Repeating Misinformation Doesn’t Make It True, But Does Make It More Likely To Be Believed

So many inaccuracies are being repeated about coronavirus that for some people they become truth. Here's why.

Why are people so willing to believe a lie, when exposed to it often enough, as if it were the truth? Even when presented with ACTUAL PHYSICAL EVIDENCE that it did, some will still say it never happened.

People are strange.

Thanks for your comment. 😊

*Stephen Colbert, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2021)

[lakecountylibrary]

Fact Check Friday #14

You made it to Friday! Time for another media literacy tip to add to your arsenal. 

Text in the image is repeated below for those using screen readers or waiting for mobile images to load.

Illusory Truth Effect

The more often we hear/read something, the more we believe it.

In other words, a lie repeated often enough begins to sound true. Our brains enjoy familiarity and find repeated statements easier to process than new statements. 

The illusory truth effect can impact you even if you know a statement is wrong to begin with. It’s insidious! Politicians are particularly notorious for taking advantage of this.

So what do we do about it?

Recognize that you are not exempt from the illusory truth effect just because you know about it. 

Use your fact-checking skills early and often. Check a claim’s validity the first time you hear it - it’ll be easier to get your brain to dislodge it if you can repeat the truth to yourself every time you encounter the lie from then on, before it becomes entrenched.

[infpisme]

[dearly]

When people attempt to assess truth they rely on two things: whether the information jibes with their understanding, and whether it feels familiar. The first condition is logical: People compare new information with what they already know to be true and consider the credibility of both sources. But researchers have found that familiarity can trump rationality—so much so that hearing over and over again that a certain fact is wrong can have a paradoxical effect. It’s so familiar that it starts to feel right.

Emily Dreyfuss; Want to Make A Lie Seem True? Say It Again. And Again. And Again.