- Avoid repeating a fake news claim while debunking it; increasing the fluency of a concept can increase the likelihood of it being labeled as true.
- Use simple language and photographs; statements shown alongside photographs are more commonly labeled as true
- Instead of rescinding a false belief, instill a new positive belief

Ways to Effectively Correct Misinformation

- distribution of corrections: usually not successful
- debunking fake news is sometimes just as difficult as debunking misconceptions


University of California, Davis

Pepperdine University

Errors in one's knowledge system that lead them to believe that an inaccurate piece of information is true.

False Beliefs

Marsh, E. J., & Stanley, M. (2020). False beliefs: Byproducts of an adaptive knowledge base? In R. Greifeneder, M. Jaffé, E. J. Newman, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), The psychology of fake news: Accepting, sharing, and correcting misinformation (pp. 131–146). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429295379

False beliefs: Byproducts of an adaptive knowledge base?

1. It takes more cognitive energy to disbelieve information than it does to believe it. Therefore, people are often automatically more inclined to believe information than they are to disbelieve it.  However, this is usually only true if one is explicitly asked to label the information as true or false.

2. Stimuli that are easier to process are more likely to be perceived as being true. Easy-to-read fonts, rhyming, and repetition, all make information seem more believable.

3. People often use their existing beliefs, schemas, and experiences to interpret information. They rarely remember information as it is presented to them but rather their interpretation of the information they received. Humans are wired to fill in gaps in information which allows for deviations and imperfections.

4. Knowledge is often isolated from when and how it was first learned. When recalling information one may not remember that the source of that information was unreliable. (source monitoring errors)

5. Knowledge is not always applied or readily recalled.(tip of the tongue state)

Properties of the knowledge base that can yield false beliefs

Although source monitoring may help individuals to more accurately evaluate the credibility of information and the source it came from, source monitoring is unlikely to be an effective means for dispelling false beliefs. Recalling the source of information every time one accesses knowledge is cognitively inefficient and unlikely to be consistently practiced. Additionally, a person's judgment regarding the credibility of a source may be inaccurate.

Source monitoring as a method for combating false beliefs 

1. Avoid repeating misinformation
2. Use simple language
3. Use photos
4. Use affirmative statements to instill new and more accurate information rather than just negating false information

Tips for debunking false beliefs 

- interrupted falsehoods
- illusory truth effect
- Tip-of-the-tongue state
- fact checking
-	source monitoring
-	cognitive shortcuts/ properties of the knowledge base

Terms and Concepts Related to False Beliefs

Collective delusions are false beliefs that have been spread within societies and amplified in social groups. Collective delusions can have catastrophic social consequences. An example of a harmful collective delusion within society is the belief that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by scientists seeking personal advantage, this can decrease people's intentions to minimize their carbon footprint. Another example is the false belief that pharmaceutical companies hide data about harmful side effects of vaccines which in turn reduces people's intentions to get vaccinated.

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