Illusory truth effect

{{psychology}}
{{cquote|"Why are so many people convinced that we only use 10% of our [[brains]], or that Eskimos have ''n'' words for snow, where ''n'' is as high as you need it to be for the desired rhetorical effect?" ||| Chris<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/mixingmemory/2007/09/18/the-truth-effect-and-other-pro/ The Truth Effect and Other Processing Fluency Miracles] by mixingmemory (September 18, 2007) ''Science Blogs''.</ref>}}
The '''illusory truth effect''' (also known as the '''truth effect''', the '''illusion-of-truth effect''', the '''reiteration effect''', the '''validity effect''', and the '''frequency-validity relationship''') is the tendency to believe information to be correct after repeated exposure to the claim in question. This is an illusion that appears due to unconscious cognition.

This phenomenon has been studied extensively, with the term first appearing in psychology literature from the late 1970s.<ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222438522_Frequency_and_the_Conference_of_Referential_Validity Frequency and the Conference of Referential Validity] by Lynn Hasher & David Goldstein (1977) ''Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior'' 16:107-112.</ref> The illusion is now backed up by several psychology [[experiment]]s.<ref>[http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1088868309352251 The Truth About the Truth: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Truth Effect] by Alice Dechêne et al. (2009) ''Personality and Social Psychology Review'' 14(2):238-257. doi:10.1177/1088868309352251.</ref> The illusion is thought to be partly caused by the concept of {{wpl|processing fluency||,}} by which familiar concepts are more easily processed, tricking the mind into thinking something is true without any real [[evidence]] of it being so.

Even if a repeated falsehood is discredited in someone's mind, they will tend to forget why it was discredited and believe it upon recall ("the sleeper effect").<ref>Cathrine Jansson-Boyd (June 24, 2024). [https://theconversation.com/repeated-political-soundbites-can-influence-how-people-think-even-if-they-disagree-with-the-message-232838 "Repeated political soundbites can influence how people think – even if they disagree with the message"]. ''The Conversation''.</ref> The Poynter Institute, a media literacy and fact-checking nonprofit, suggests one method for countering the illusory truth effect:

{{cquote|Be Positive: [[Barack Obama#Islam|Rather than saying "Barack Obama is not a Muslim,"]] say, "Barack Obama is a Christian." Negation can help reinforce the exact things we're attempting to debunk. It feeds into the illusion of truth.|||<ref>Vicki Krueger (February 22, 2017). [https://www.poynter.org/educators-students/2017/6-ways-to-spread-facts/ "6 ways to spread facts"]. ''The Poynter Institute''.</ref>}}

==See also==
*''[[Argumentum ad nauseam]]''
*[[Big lie]]
*[[Confabulation]]
*[[Confirmation bias]]

==External links==
*{{wpa|Illusory truth effect}}
*[https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0307294 "Repetition increases belief in climate-skeptical claims, even for climate science endorsers"], ''PLOS One''

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|psychology}}

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