{"id":47514,"date":"2019-04-16T13:09:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T20:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=47514"},"modified":"2019-04-16T13:09:18","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T20:09:18","slug":"how-fake-news-gets-into-our-minds-and-what-you-can-do-to-resist-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/how-fake-news-gets-into-our-minds-and-what-you-can-do-to-resist-it\/","title":{"rendered":"How fake news gets into our minds, and what you can do to resist it"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nAlthough the term itself is not new, fake news presents a growing threat for\u00a0societies across the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Only a\u00a0small amount of fake news is needed<\/a>\u00a0to disrupt a conversation, and at extremes it can have an impact on democratic processes,\u00a0including elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But what can we do to avoid fake news, at a time when we could be waiting a while for\u00a0mainstream media<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0social networks<\/a>\u00a0to step up and\u00a0address the problem<\/a>?<\/p>\n

From a psychology perspective, an important step in tackling fake news is to understand why it gets into our mind. We can do this by\u00a0examining how memory works<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0how memories become distorted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Using this viewpoint generates some tips you can use to work out whether you\u2019re reading or sharing fake news \u2013 which might be handy in the coming election period.<\/p>\n

How memory gets distorted at the source<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Fake news often relies on\u00a0misattribution<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 instances in which we can retrieve things from memory but can\u2019t remember their source.<\/p>\n

Misattribution is one of the reasons advertising is so effective. We see a product and feel a pleasant sense of familiarity because we\u2019ve encountered it before, but fail to remember that the source of the memory was an ad.<\/p>\n

One study<\/a>\u00a0examined headlines from fake news published during the 2016 US Presidential Election.<\/p>\n

The researchers found even one presentation of a headline (such as \u201cDonald Trump Sent His Own Plane to Transport 200 Stranded Marines\u201d,\u00a0based on claims shown to be false<\/a>) was enough to increase belief in its content. This effect persisted for at least a week, was still found when headlines were accompanied by a factcheck warning, and even when participants suspected it might be false.<\/p>\n

Repeated exposure can\u00a0increase the sense that misinformation is true<\/a>. Repetition creates the perception of group consensus that can result in collective misremembering, a phenomenon called the\u00a0Mandela Effect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It might be harmless when people collectively misremember something fun, such as a\u00a0childhood cartoon (did the Queen in Disney\u2019s Snow White really NOT say \u201cMirror, mirror\u2026\u201d?)<\/a>. But it has serious consequences when a false sense of group consensus contributes to\u00a0rising outbreaks of measles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Scientists have investigated whether\u00a0targeted misinformation can promote healthy behaviour<\/a>. Dubbed false-memory diets, it is said that false memories of food experiences can encourage people to\u00a0avoid fatty foods<\/a>,\u00a0alcohol<\/a>\u00a0and even\u00a0convince them to love asparagus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Creative people that have a strong ability to associate different words are\u00a0especially susceptible to false memories<\/a>. Some people might be more vulnerable than others to believe fake news, but\u00a0everyone is at risk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How bias can reinforce fake news<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Bias<\/a>\u00a0is how our feelings and worldview affect the\u00a0encoding and retrieval of memory<\/a>. We might like to think of our memory as an archivist that carefully preserves events, but\u00a0sometimes it\u2019s more like a storyteller<\/a>. Memories are shaped by our beliefs and can function to\u00a0maintain a consistent narrative rather than an accurate record<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An example of this is selective exposure, our tendency to seek information that\u00a0reinforces our pre-existing beliefs<\/a>\u00a0and to avoid information that brings those beliefs into question. This effect is supported by evidence that television news audiences are\u00a0overwhelmingly partisan<\/a>\u00a0and exist in their own echo chambers.<\/p>\n

It was thought that online communities exhibit the same behaviour, contributing to the spread of fake news, but this\u00a0appears to be a myth<\/a>. Political news sites are often populated by people with\u00a0diverse ideological backgrounds<\/a>\u00a0and echo chambers are\u00a0more likely to exist in real life than online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our brains are wired to assume things we believe\u00a0originated from a credible source<\/a>. But are we more inclined to remember information that reinforces our beliefs?\u00a0This is probably not the case<\/a>.<\/p>\n

People who hold strong beliefs remember things that are relevant to their beliefs but they remember opposing information too. This happens because people are motivated to defend their beliefs against opposing views.<\/p>\n

Belief echoes are a related phenomenon that\u00a0highlight the difficulty of correcting misinformation<\/a>. Fake news is often designed to be attention-grabbing.<\/p>\n

It can continue to shape people\u2019s attitudes after it has been discredited because it produces a vivid emotional reaction and builds on our existing narratives.<\/p>\n

Corrections have a much smaller emotional impact, especially if they require policy details, so should be\u00a0designed to satisfy a similar narrative urge<\/a>\u00a0to be effective.<\/p>\n

Tips for resisting fake news<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The way our memory works means it might be impossible to resist fake news completely.<\/p>\n

But one approach is to start\u00a0thinking like a scientist<\/a>. This involves adopting a questioning attitude that is motivated by curiosity, and being aware of personal bias.<\/p>\n

For fake news, this might involve asking ourselves the following questions:<\/p>\n