AI Article Synopsis
- Misinformation can change what we believe, so it's important to know how we accept or change false information.
- In two experiments with fake psychic shows, people tended to believe in psychic abilities even after being warned they were tricks.
- When they learned how the tricks were done, their belief in psychics went down right away and stayed down for a week after the show.
Article Abstract
Misinformation can have a detrimental impact on our beliefs, and it is therefore necessary to understand the cognitive mechanism by which false information is integrated or can be changed. In two experiments, we worked with fake psychic demonstrations, because observers easily adopt the experience as reflecting a "true" psychic event. We manipulated the availability of alternative explanations by providing a general warning that the performer is a magician with no psychic abilities (Experiment 1) or disclosing afterwards how the fake demonstration had been staged (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, witnessing the psychic demonstration significantly increased participants' psychic beliefs, even though they had been warned. However, providing the alternative explanation about the deceptive method mitigated this effect. In Experiment 2, the realisation of deception significantly reduced participants' psychic beliefs directly after the performance and remained reduced 1 week later.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/17470218221116437 | DOI Listing |
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