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PRich Dissertation.pdf (705.51 KB)

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The continued influence of misinformationg following a delayed correction

Rich, Patrick Russell
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1469712389

Abstract Details

2016, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences.
Early news reports sometimes contain errors based on mistaken information (hereafter misinformation) that must later be corrected. However, experimental research has consistently demonstrated that corrections reduce, but rarely eliminate, belief in the misinformation (see Lewandowsky et al., 2012, for a review). Although well-established, all prior studies of this phenomenon have provided the correction and the misinformation in the same news story, and assessed the effectiveness of the correction shortly after. However, in real-world situations, corrections are often issued days or weeks later and effective corrections need to lead to durable changes in beliefs. The present study aimed to address the limitations of prior studies by investigating (1) whether delayed corrections are less effective than immediate corrections and (2) whether corrections lead to durable changes in beliefs. Regarding the first goal, the present study found evidence that delayed and immediate corrections are equally effective. Across 2 experiments, a correction greatly reduced belief in the misinformation whether provided immediately after the misinformation or 2 days later. Regarding the second goal, the present study found evidence that the revised beliefs that result from corrections are not durable. Rather, across 3 experiments, belief in the retracted misinformation returned over the days following a correction, though not to pre-correction levels. Collectively, the results of the present study show that even when corrections greatly reduce belief in the misinformation, they do not eliminate the misinformation from memory. As a consequence, over time readers tended to fall back on the retracted misinformation, perhaps in an effort to maintain story coherence or because they forget the association between the correction and the misinformation. Based on these findings, future studies should focus on developing corrections that lead to enduring changes in mistaken beliefs.
Maria Zaragoza (Committee Chair)
Jocelyn Folk (Committee Member)
Jeffrey Ciesla (Committee Member)
Christopher Was (Committee Member)
Danielle Coombs (Other)
76 p.
Psychology
continued influence effect; correction; misinformation; memory; judgments

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Rich, P. R. (2016). The continued influence of misinformationg following a delayed correction [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1469712389

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Rich, Patrick. The continued influence of misinformationg following a delayed correction. 2016. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1469712389.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Rich, Patrick. "The continued influence of misinformationg following a delayed correction." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1469712389

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1469712389
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© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.