The Misinformation Effect: Why We Are Susceptible to Fake News

 

In 1978, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus conducted a famous experiment on human memory. Participants were shown a video of a road accident. They were then asked several questions about the video. These questions were formulated following the way the police or investigative team would ask eyewitnesses after an accident. There was such a question,

When the cars hit each other, how fast were they moving?

Some witnesses were asked the same question slightly differently.

How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?

The researchers were surprised to find that using the word 'crushed' instead of 'hurt' caused the video of the accident to be stored differently in the participants' memories.

A week later they were asked if they had seen any broken glass in the video of the accident. Most of the participants answered correctly. That is, there was no broken glass in the video. But those who used the word 'shatter' in the question were claiming to have seen broken glass. That is, the word slightly changed the entire picture of the accident in their memory. Thus, the effect of different information after the event on the memory of the original event is called the 'misinformation effect'. Even small details can often make a big difference in the memory of the main event. This experiment is a proof of that.

The misinformation effect gives an idea of how easily our memories are mistaken, how easily they can be altered. The thing is quite terrible. Because, this creates a dark possibility that we lose trust in our own memories as well. Criminals are often convicted based on eyewitness memory. As a result of the misinformation effect, reliance on eyewitness memory becomes questionable.

There are various theories behind why the misinformation effect occurs. One such idea is that facts and misinformation about the original event become integrated in memory. Another theory is that the distracting information replaces the memory of the original event. Again, since the distracting information comes into memory after the original event, it is a relatively new memory. So retrieving this memory is also relatively easy. Another possibility is that various small pieces of information relevant to the main event may not sit together in memory. So when misleading or incorrect information comes to light, it sits in the gaps of this original event information to form a complete memory. In this way, correct and incorrect information are simultaneously embedded in memory.

Research has shown that various factors can influence the misinformation effect. One such element is talking about the incident with other witnesses. This can change the way one sees the original story. Because other eyewitnesses may have interpreted the event differently. This new interpretation distorts the original memory.

Reports of events in newspapers or on television can also contribute to the misinformation effect. People often forget the source of events. As a result, many subconsciously think of themselves as eyewitnesses to the event. However, they came to know about the incident from a news report. The more people are exposed to misleading information, the more likely they believe that information to be part of the original story.

If the misinformation is placed in the eyewitness's memory some time after the original event, it takes its place as a new memory. This new memory is relatively easier to retrieve when thinking about the event later, which prevents the original memory from coming into conscious awareness.

Not everyone is equally susceptible to the misinformation effect. This sensitivity can increase or decrease due to various factors. Some studies have shown that such errors occur differently in people of different ages. This sensitivity is more common in young children. This effect is magnified if the source of the main event is narrative rather than interrogative. However, some studies have shown otherwise. There, teenagers appear to be relatively more vulnerable to this effect. Again, in the case of adults, it appears that those who are older are less susceptible to the misinformation effect. It, however, depends on the question and memory skills.

The better the memory capacity of individuals, the better they can create a memory image of the original event. In one study, participants were asked to perform two tasks: memorize a list of words and simultaneously verify the correctness of a mathematical statement. The better participants were able to perform the two tasks simultaneously, the less susceptible they were to the misinformation effect.

Myers Briggs Indicator is a personality test. People with different personalities diagnosed with this indicator were served misinformation similar to Elizabeth Loftus' experiment. It has been found that introverts tend to accept both correct and incorrect information after the fact. They have less confidence in their memories than extroverts. Hence, they are relatively more susceptible to this error.

Variations in the effects of misinformation on different types of people have also been examined in terms of imagination. People who are more imaginative are more susceptible to misinformation effects. Psychologists claim that imaginative people create a vivid picture of misinformation during memory retrieval. Thus, their susceptibility to this error increases.

Susceptibility to this error also depends on sleep. There are different opinions on this matter. One experiment found that susceptibility to the misinformation effect is greatest when a sleep cycle is complete. Among the test participants who suffered the least from this fallacy, they did not sleep again after witnessing the original event. Again, another study claims that lack of sleep increases susceptibility to the misinformation effect. Therefore, the relationship of this effect to sleep is debated.

The misinformation effect can have quite an adverse effect on the decision-making process. This results in harmful consequences in various situations. But avoiding this effect is a big challenge. One problem is that human memory works quite complexly. Scientists do not yet know enough about the brain or memory. Where both correct and incorrect information often supports the false information. As a result, it becomes difficult to root out the problem. Again, in many cases, people hope that the wrong information they know is correct. In that case it becomes almost impossible to avoid this effect.

A well-known way to root out misinformation is to present factual and accurate information. Surprisingly, such direct opposition to misinformation increases the amount of belief in misinformation. Popularity of misinformation acts as a reason behind this. Some researchers have hypothesized that there must be a complete model of correct information to counter misinformation. People will then easily understand which of the information they know is wrong and thus it will be easier to break that belief.

Some studies have shown that the misinformation effect can occur even when the correct information is right in front of your eyes. A similar misinformation effect was observed when participants in the study were shown the correct and original video source, even when misinformation was identified with it. From this study, it is understood that even if the right information is in front of people, people are not completely able to avoid themselves from wrong information.