Title: Misinformation: Why is it a problem?

Abstract: Why can’t people just realize when something is false and then not believe it? I will discuss the cognitive mechanisms that make exposure to misinformation problematic, even when people should realize it is false. People often fail to notice errors in what they read or hear. In addition, repetition increases belief in false statements. These effects of repetition occur with many different types of statements (e.g., trivia facts, news headlines, advertisements), and even when the false statement contradicts participants’ prior knowledge. In the talk, I will present a series of studies demonstrating that the effects of repetition are widespread – occurring for even very implausible statements, occurring in naturalistic settings, and occurring across development. The presentation will connect cognitive, developmental and social psychological theory to how people make judgments about what is true or false in real-world settings.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Lisa Fazio is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on how children and adults learn true and false information from the world around them, and on how to correct errors in people’s knowledge. Her work spans multiple disciplines including cognitive, developmental, educational, and social psychology and informs basic theories about psychological processes, while also having clear applications for practitioners, such as journalists and teachers. She received the Early Career Impact Award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences in 2020 and the Frank Research Prize in Public Interest Communications in 2017. Dr. Fazio is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, the Psychonomic Society, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Her research is currently supported by major grants from both NSF and the Mercury Project focusing on why people believe false information and testing the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing the spread of and belief in misinformation.