The ‘Illusory Truth Effect’ is the tendency to believe repeated claims as truth. Psychologists have named this phenomenon the ‘illusory truth effect’ and it seems to stem from the fact that we find it easier to process information that we have encountered many times before. This results in a sense of fluency which we then (mis)interpret as a signal that the content is true.
Researchers questioned if the 3 aspects of cognition, already known to influence how people make judgements – could determine how prone someone is to the illusory truth effect: cognitive ability or intelligence; the need for cognitive closure (eg, desire to avoid ambiguity) and cognitive style (if someone thinks in a rapid and intuitive manner or take a slower and more analytic approach). For example, someone who relies more on intuition and wants hard and fast answers might be more likely to use the fact that information has been repeated as a cue to its truthfulness.
Researchers found that the illusory truth effect across all studies that – participants were more likely to rate trivia statements and headlines as truth if they have seen them previously. The strength of this effect did not vary according to the participants’ cognitive ability or style or need for closure.
The findings suggest that we are all predisposed to believe repeated information regardless of our own cognitive profile. However, some (especially the politicians) – believe that it’s not that there is a foolish subgroup of people who are more vulnerable to the ‘illusory truth’ effect, but rather it is an advantageous and universal bias that’s arisen because most of the time fluency is a reliable signal of truth.
However, researchers believe that more can be researched on – and this does not mean that there is absolutely no individual differences relating to the illusory truth effect waiting to be discovered. The findings from this research has enabled researchers to build up a more complete picture of the illusory truth effect and other cognitive biases.
Source material from Research Digest