Your Gullible Brain And The Spread Of Fake News

Gulch, gulf, gull, gullibility- Oh it is here!
JULES!
Hey, everybody, Julian here for DNews.
Pop quiz: Can you remember how many animals of each kind Moses took onto the ark?
If your answer is two, think again.
The correct answer is… zero.
Moses didn’t actually take any animals onto the ark, Noah did.
If you didn’t catch the error, don’t worry, you’re far from the first to miss it.
In fact, a recent study in Psychology Press notes that failing to register errors in questions
like this happens all the time.
In the study, participants were asked questions that were both “distorted” with false
information, like the Moses example, and questions that had no false information.
The participants answered 35% of distorted questions as if they were correct, even after
they were told to watch out for false information.
But most of us do know that Noah was the one who brought animals aboard the ark.
So then why isn’t this prior knowledge enough to detect the error?
The study calls this phenomenon “knowledge neglect,” which means that prior knowledge
about a topic doesn’t save us from falling for semantic errors.
Some have likened this to absentmindedness.
Others may simply see it as being gullible -- easily duped or cheated.
The study also found that not only do people often miss semantic errors like this, but
they also use the false information to answer general questions later on.
For example: if someone reads a statement that incorrectly refers to a prune as a dried
date instead of a dried plum, that person is more likely to think that prunes are dates
later on when they’re asked about it.
In fact, we’re prone to accepting entirely erroneous stories as truth, which can cause
us to believe in conspiracies, major myths and fake news.
So, if we’re an intelligent bunch here (which we are), why is it that we’re prone to fall
for myths about vaccines causing autism and the earth being flat?
Just because we’re gullible doesn’t mean we’re stupid...right?
Exactly.
Multiple factors encourage gullibility.
Images for instance, play a powerful role in giving credibility to messages.
Studies found that pairing claims with photographs increased the believability of a claim whether
it was true or not.
We’re also more likely to believe information if it’s told to us by someone we’re acquainted
with... even if that someone is a talking head on a news program who we don’t personally
know, but have grown familiar with simply by repeated exposure.
Similar to how we grow familiar with a person, we also grow familiar with a message.
Studies found that the more we see or hear a certain message and the more consistently
that message aligns with our beliefs, the more inclined we are to believe it.
Imagine having a bias against a certain person, and then reading a headline condemning that
person for committing a crime.
Whether it’s true or not, our mind already recognizes that the message is both familiar
and consistent with previous thoughts, and suddenly we’re one step closer to believing
it.
This tendency to interpret evidence in ways that confirm our beliefs is known as confirmation
bias.
These factors allow our minds to do less work and take mental short cuts when processing.
So, if you or someone you know has fallen into a gullibility trap, how do you get out
of it?
It’s not that easy.
Because misinformation gets embedded in our memory, retracting it is difficult as it would
leave gaps in a truth we’ve come to believe.
We have to do more than focus on the right facts.
When we bring up the false information to debunk the myth, we’re also providing another
opportunity for someone to become more familiar with it and develop an even deeper conviction
for the misinformation.
Instead of trying to compare misinformation to the real story, we should focus solely
on the truth, using clear language and pictures in the explanation, so it’s easier to process.
Now that you know more about gullibility tricky ways, consider yourself armed for the next
time you enter the arena of news headlines and storytelling.
Speaking of myths...how about clean coal?
We have a video about why that might not be a real thing, here.
And be sure to visit our friends at Seeker Stories!
They’ve got a new video on the power of Chile’s student resistance movement here.
So, did you fall for the Moses on the ark bit?
Let us know in the comments, subscribe for more,
and I'll see you next time on DNews.

Your Gullible Brain And The Spread Of Fake News

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