Susceptibility to Misinformation

fluid intelligence

ability to think logically/reasonably and solve problems in novel situation, it is independence of acquired knowledge (e.g. processing speed, spatial reasoning, abstract reasoning) 

crystallized intelligence

ability to recall facts and information, accumulated knowledge/experience from a stored based (acquired knowledge) 

what is the relationship between intelligence and cognitive aging?

fluid and crystallized intelligence are intrinsically associated. lower decline in fluid intelligence is associated with higher increase in crystallized intelligence bc fluid intelligence, which is involved in learning new things and problem-solving, is used to acquire new knowledge and skills, which then contribute to crystallized intelligence. As fluid intelligence declines, the capacity to learn new things slows, but accumulated knowledge and experience, represented by crystallized intelligence, continue to increase.  

misinformation

false information that is disseminated regardless of intent to mislead

disinformation

false information that is disseminated with intention to mislead

how to measure susceptibility to misinfo? 2 misinformation susceptibility test

1. content driven measure (People had to respond to several statements and judge the statement as T/F -- This is CONTENT based measure )

2. content/context free measure (People judge several headlines as real news or fake news—there are two types of measures here to evaluation people's susceptibility to misinformation)

What makes individual people be highly susceptible to believing in misinformation?

• more right wing/politically conservative

• minority group (self-identification)

• illusory truth effect

• lower digital literacy

• motivated reasoning- when individuals' pre-existing beliefs/desires to conform with group identities lead to selective endorsement of information

illusory truth effect

happens when repeated claims/judgments/statement are more likely to be judged as true because of the amount of exposure people had. This lead to greater chance if misinfo if the false claim is rampant 

what makes people to have low susceptibility to misinformation?

• low susceptibility is associated with higher performance on numeracy tasks, greater analytical skills

• more liberal

• higher education

• trust in mainstream media/science

Based on the hierarchical graph analyses, what structure was observed, and what were the findings related to age and susceptibility to misinformation? 

A structure with two general factors was observed; younger individuals scored higher in susceptibility to misinformation, while older adults showed lower susceptibility

• older adults (70+) performed better overall in the content-driven measure

Based on the variable importance rank, which of the following are the top five factors associated with susceptibility to misinformation?

1. age (most important factor)

2. vocabulary

3. trust in science/mainstream media

4. personality trait (neuroticism)

5. scientific reasoning

Other variables that impact susceptibility to misinfo

Cognitive flexibility, agreeableness, openness, extraversion, consciousness, cognitive control (ability to regulate and manage one's thoughts and actions, particularly controlling system 1 and 2 way of thinking) 

what is the most significant factor to lower vulnerability to misinformation and why

Age = most significant factor and that could be explained by crystallized intelligence

Interactions between age and vocab variable to misinfo

low susceptibility: older age and high vocab (due to greater crystallized intelligence)

high susceptibility: young age and low vocab

interactions between age and interest in science/mainstream media

low: high trust in science and older age

high: low trust in science and younger age

interactions between age and neuroticism

low: older age and low neuroticism

high: young age and high neuroticism

6 tactics used in the bad news game to spread disinformation (lab)

1. impersonation

2. emotion exploitation

3. polarization

4. conspiracy theories

5. discrediting

6. trolling

what tactics are the most effective in spreading misinfo

• emotional exploitation- areas responsible for critical thinking are more likely to be blocked when seeing emotionally intense content

• conspiracy theories- shows remarkable persistence once the belief is accepted and it is nearly impossible to change someone’s mind when the belief is accepted

what tactics are the most effective during health crises

impersonalization and emotional exploitation

what tactics are the most effective during political events

polarization techniques

T/F for specific demographic groups, different techniques show varying effectiveness

True and Research suggests misinformation that employs multiple techniques simultaneously is significantly more effective than single-technique approaches.