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COGNITIVE SUBSTRATES OF BELIEF IN FAKE NEWS 1 Cognitive substrates of belief in fake news
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Buonomano, Lydia Cannon, Tyrone |
| Copyright Year | 2020 |
| Abstract | A number of cognitive factors are thought to influence susceptibility to belief in fake news, including an individual’s tendency to engage in analytical thinking and actively open-minded thinking, trait levels of delusion-proneness, and trait levels of dogmatism. However, previous research has yet to examine the role of cognitive mechanisms that affect the probability that analytic thinking will be initiated (such as conflict monitoring and decision confidence), or that the initiation of analytic thinking will result in the selection of a normatively correct response (such as cognitive decoupling). Additionally, results suggesting that actively open-minded thinking, delusion-proneness, and dogmatism are related to belief in fake news have not been replicated to date. The present study seeks to address these research gaps by (1) exploring the effects of conflict monitoring, decision confidence, and cognitive decoupling on belief in fake news, and (2) attempting to replicate the results of previous research. Participants completed a Rapid Response Base-Rate Task assessing the effect of response conflict on engagement in analytic thinking and degree of decision confidence, a News Evaluation Task assessing belief in real and fake news, and several individual difference measures assessing analytic thinking, actively open-minded thinking, delusion-proneness, and dogmatism. The results of this study suggest that (1) a decreased effect of response conflict on confidence is correlated with belief in fake news (but not real news), (2) reduced decoupling efficiency is associated with increased belief in fake news (but not real news), (3) a reduced effect of response conflict on engagement in analytic thinking is associated with belief in fake news (but not real news), and (4) reduced engagement in actively COGNITIVE SUBSTRATES OF BELIEF IN FAKE NEWS 3 open-minded thinking and analytic thinking are correlated with belief in fake news. These findings indicate that inefficiencies in conflict processing and cognitive decoupling contribute to belief in fake news. Interventions that target these inefficiencies in vulnerable individuals may therefore decrease belief in fake news. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://cogsci.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/2020ThesisBUONOMANO.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Notice |
