Of all
the things that I learned in 2017, this one surprised me the most. Researchers call it the Illusory Truth
Effect.
The seminal
study on the subject was done in 1977, so it's not exactly new news. And, the basic effect has been studied and
replicated dozens of times since then. But
the recent emergence of a variety of strong held beliefs based on falsehoods
has led to people to take a closer look at the phenomenon.
The
bottom line is that repetition of a statement makes it easier to process
relative to new statements. This leads
people to the sometimes false conclusion that the initial statement is more
truthful. The more times something is
repeated the more we perceive it as true.
Even if it isn't. (Fazio,
Brashier, Payne & Marsh, 2015)
Essentially
what is happening is that we are mistaking familiar for true, because the more
times we hear something the more comfortable we become with it. Then our brains convince us to believe it is
true because we feel it is true. (Tsipursky,
2017)
Knowing
all this I probably shouldn't have been surprised when I read last week that 44%
of Republicans think Trump repealed Obamacare. (Kliff, 2017)
And
yet, I still was.
Fazio,
L., Brashier, N., Payne, B., Marsch, E. (2015, August 24) Knowledge Does Not Protect Against Illusory
Truth. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Retrieved January 3, 2018, from
Tsipursky,
G. (2017, October 27) A brain science
expert explains how to deprogram truth-denying Trump supporters. rawstory.com. retrieved January 3, 2018, from
Kliff,
S. (2017, December 27) 44 Percent of
Republicans think Trump repealed Obamacare.
vox.com. Retrieved January 3, 2018, from
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