Reducing reliance on inaccurate information

• Published in: Memory & cognition Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 11 - 26
• Main Authors: Rapp, David N., Hinze, Scott R., Kohlhepp, Kristine, Ryskin, Rachel A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 2014; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognitive Psychology; Comprehension; Deception; False information; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Judgment; Knowledge; Language; Learning. Memory; Memory; Memory, Episodic; Production and perception of written language; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reading; Reading comprehension; Semantics; Storm damage; Validity; Young Adult; United States > US; Kentucky; Russia; Learning; Prior knowledge; Memory; Persuasion; Reading comprehension; Text processing; Human; Verbal comprehension; Cognition; Text; Experimental study; Knowledge; Reading; Acquisition process; Language
• ISSN: 0090-502X; 1532-5946
• DOI: 10.3758/s13421-013-0339-0

People learn from the texts that they read, but sometimes what they read is wrong. Previous research has demonstrated that individuals encode even obvious inaccuracies, at times relying on the misinformation to complete postreading tasks. In the present study, we investigated whether the influence of inaccurate information might be reduced by encouraging the retrieval of accurate knowledge. Participants read an extended text that contained both accurate and inaccurate assertions, after which they evaluated the validity of statements associated with those assertions. In general, participants made more mistakes in their evaluations of statements after having read inaccurate as compared to accurate assertions, offering evidence of the influence of misinformation. However, when participants were tasked with correcting inaccuracies during reading, their mistakes were substantially reduced. Encouraging the retrieval of accurate knowledge during reading can reduce the influence of misinformation. These findings are discussed with respect to the contributions of episodic traces and prior knowledge on learning, as well as to the conditions that support successful comprehension.