The effects of source expertise and trustworthiness on recollection: the case of vaccine misinformation

Where did pre-service teachers, teachers, and the general public learn neuromyths? Insights to support teacher training

BACKGROUND

Neuromyths may negatively influence teacher practice. Knowing where people learned misinformation can prevent its propagation and improve teacher training.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence of neuromyths, their sources, and whether they influence teacher practice.

METHOD

157 participants (teachers, pre-service teachers, and the general public), assessed four neuromyths statements on a 4-point Likert scale. They indicate their sources, and if they were educators, whether they influenced their teacher practice.

RESULTS

Participants showed over 50 % agreement in neuromyths, and approximately 30 % of teachers reported using teaching strategies based on these misconceptions. Information sources included social media, instructional materials, books, as well as interactions with peers.

CONCLUSION

These results underscore the need to avoid the spread of neuromyths, especially the learning styles myth, targeting training courses and educational materials. Most teachers remember where they learned about neuromyths, which may help to identify the sources.

How do forewarnings and post-warnings affect misinformation reliance? The impact of warnings on the continued influence effect and belief regression

People often continue to rely on certain information in their reasoning, even if this information has been retracted; this is called the continued influence effect (CIE) of misinformation. One technique for reducing this effect involves explicitly warning people that there is a possibility that they might have been misled. The present study aimed to investigate these warnings' effectiveness, depending on when they were given (either before or after misinformation). In two experiments (N = 337), we found that while a forewarning did reduce reliance on misinformation, retrospectively warned participants (when the warning was placed either between the misinformation and the retraction or just before testing) relied on the misinformation to a similar degree as unwarned participants. However, the protective effect of the forewarning was not durable, as shown by the fact that reliance on the misinformation increased for over 7 days following the first testing, despite continued memory of the retraction.

Memory and belief updating following complete and partial reminders of fake news

Fake news can have enduring effects on memory and beliefs. An ongoing theoretical debate has investigated whether corrections (fact-checks) should include reminders of fake news. The familiarity backfire account proposes that reminders hinder correction (increasing interference), whereas integration-based accounts argue that reminders facilitate correction (promoting memory integration). In three experiments, we examined how different types of corrections influenced memory for and belief in news headlines. In the exposure phase, participants viewed real and fake news headlines. In the correction phase, participants viewed reminders of fake news that either reiterated the false details (complete) or prompted recall of missing false details (partial); reminders were followed by fact-checked headlines correcting the false details. Both reminder types led to proactive interference in memory for corrected details, but complete reminders produced less interference than partial reminders (Experiment 1). However, when participants had fewer initial exposures to fake news and experienced a delay between exposure and correction, this effect was reversed; partial reminders led to proactive facilitation, enhancing correction (Experiment 2). This effect occurred regardless of the delay before correction (Experiment 3), suggesting that the effects of partial reminders depend on the number of prior fake news exposures. In all experiments, memory and perceived accuracy were better when fake news and corrections were recollected, implicating a critical role for integrative encoding. Overall, we show that when memories of fake news are weak or less accessible, partial reminders are more effective for correction; when memories of fake news are stronger or more accessible, complete reminders are preferable.

fMRI evidence of movement familiarization effects on recognition memory in professional dancers

Dual-process theories propose that recognition memory involves recollection and familiarity; however, the impact of motor expertise on memory recognition, especially the interplay between familiarity and recollection, is relatively unexplored. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study used videos of a dancer performing International Latin Dance Styles as stimuli to investigate memory recognition in professional dancers and matched controls. Participants observed and then reported whether they recognized dance actions, recording the level of confidence in their recollections, whereas blood-oxygen-level-dependent signals measured encoding and recognition processes. Professional dancers showed higher accuracy and hit rates for high-confidence judgments, whereas matched controls exhibited the opposite trend for low-confidence judgments. The right putamen and precentral gyrus showed group-based moderation effects, especially for high-confidence (vs. low-confidence) action recognition in professional dancers. During action recognition, the right superior temporal gyrus and insula showed increased activation for accurate recognition and high-confidence retrieval, particularly in matched controls. These findings highlighting enhanced action memory of professional dancers-evident in their heightened recognition confidence-not only supports the dual-processing model but also underscores the crucial role of expertise-driven familiarity in bolstering successful recollection. Additionally, they emphasize the involvement of the action observation network and frontal brain regions in facilitating detailed encoding linked to intention processing.

Posttraumatic stress moderates return intentions: a factorial survey experiment with internally displaced persons in Nigeria

Background: Persons displaced by conflict often consider returning to their area of origin. Lack of reliable information about conditions in the area of origin makes this decision more difficult. Displaced persons address this by seeking information from other sources, but must then assess the credibility of these sources.Objective: This study examines the role of symptoms of posttraumatic stress as a moderator of how information from a trustworthy source influences return intentions among displaced persons.Method: We test our hypotheses with a factorial survey experiment, drawing participants (N = 822) from residents of internally displaced person (IDP) camps in northeastern Nigeria.Results: Information from a more trustworthy source led to increased return intentions. However, the more participants reported symptoms of posttraumatic stress, the smaller the effect source trustworthiness had on their return intentions.Conclusions: Findings highlight how traumatic experiences during wartime can undermine the effectiveness of the provision of information from a trustworthy source about good conditions in displaced persons' areas of origin, and suggest that interventions addressing posttraumatic stress could have downstream effects on safe, durable, and dignified return.

Addressing message fatigue for encouraging COVID-19 vaccination

During the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, health communication researchers and practitioners should be aware of the unintended effects of message fatigue. Message fatigue is a motivational state caused by repeated and prolonged exposure to similar health-related messages that induces resistance to health behaviors. Messages encouraging COVID-19 vaccination tend to focus on scientific evidence and efficacy information. However, prolonged exposure to similarly framed repeated pro-COVID-19 vaccination messages may cause message fatigue, generate psychological reactance, and lead to ineffective persuasive outcomes. Scholars of message fatigue argue that health communication practitioners should select a less common frame to reduce fatigue responses and increase favorable attitudes toward message recommendations. Entering the second year since COVID-19 vaccination has begun, to reduce message fatigue, future pro-COVID-19 vaccination communication should increase the diversity of messages different than the frequently used types. This opinion piece proposes alternative dissemination of cognitive, affective, narrative, and non-narrative pro-COVID-19 vaccination messages.

Characterizing the semantic features of climate change misinformation on Chinese social media

Climate change misinformation leads to significant adverse impacts and has become a global concern. Identifying misinformation and investigating its characteristics are of great importance to counteract misinformation. Therefore, this study aims to characterize the semantic features (frames and authority references) of climate change misinformation in the context of Chinese social media. Posts concerning climate change were collected from Weibo between January 2010 and December 2020. First, veracity, frames, and authority references were manually labeled. Then, we applied logistic regression to examine the relationship between information veracity and semantic features. The results revealed that posts concerning environmental and health impact and science and technology were more likely to be misinformation. Moreover, posts referencing non-specific authority sources are more likely to be misinformed than posts making no references to any authority references. This study provides a theoretical understanding of the semantic characteristics of climate change misinformation and practical suggestions for combating them.

Promoting COVID-19 vaccine confidence through public responses to misinformation: The joint influence of message source and message content

OBJECTIVE

During the pandemic healthcare professionals and political leaders routinely used traditional and new media outlets to publicly respond to COVID-19 myths and inaccuracies. We examine how variations in the sources and messaging strategies of these public statements affect respondents' beliefs about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

METHODS

We analyzed the results of an experiment embedded within a multi-wave survey deployed to US and UK respondents in January-February 2022 to examine these effects. We employ a test-retest between-subjects experimental protocol with a control group. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions reflecting discrete pairings of message source (political authorities vs. healthcare professionals) and messaging strategy (debunking misinformation vs. discrediting mis-informants) or a control condition. We use linear regression to compare the effects of exposure to treatment conditions on changes in respondent beliefs about the potential risks associated with COVID-19 vaccination.

RESULTS

In the UK sample, we observe a statistically significant decrease in beliefs about the risks of COVID-19 vaccines among respondents exposed to debunking messages by healthcare professionals. We observe a similar relationship in the US sample, but the effect was weaker and not significant. Identical messages from political authorities had no effect on respondents' beliefs about vaccine risks in either sample. Discrediting messages critical of mis-informants likewise had no influence on respondent beliefs, regardless of the actor to which they were attributed. Political ideology moderated the influence of debunking statements by healthcare professionals on respondent vaccine attitudes in the US sample, such that the treatment was more effective among liberals and moderates than among conservatives.

CONCLUSIONS

Brief exposure to public statements refuting anti-vaccine misinformation can help promote vaccine confidence among some populations. The results underscore the joint importance of message source and messaging strategy in determining the effectiveness of responses to misinformation.

A systematic review of communication interventions for countering vaccine misinformation

BACKGROUND

Misinformation and disinformation around vaccines has grown in recent years, exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Effective strategies for countering vaccine misinformation and disinformation are crucial for tackling vaccine hesitancy. We conducted a systematic review to identify and describe communications-based strategies used to prevent and ameliorate the effect of mis- and dis-information on people's attitudes and behaviours surrounding vaccination (objective 1) and examined their effectiveness (objective 2).

METHODS

We searched CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo and MedRxiv in March 2021. The search strategy was built around three themes(1) communications and media; (2) misinformation; and (3) vaccines. For trials addressing objective 2, risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias in randomized trials tool (RoB2).

RESULTS

Of 2000 identified records, 34 eligible studies addressed objective 1, 29 of which also addressed objective 2 (25 RCTs and 4 before-and-after studies). Nine 'intervention approaches' were identified; most focused on content of the intervention or message (debunking/correctional, informational, use of disease images or other 'scare tactics', use of humour, message intensity, inclusion of misinformation warnings, and communicating weight of evidence), while two focused on delivery of the intervention or message (timing and source). Some strategies, such as scare tactics, appear to be ineffective and may increase misinformation endorsement. Communicating with certainty, rather than acknowledging uncertainty around vaccine efficacy or risks, was also found to backfire. Promising approaches include communicating the weight-of-evidence and scientific consensus around vaccines and related myths, using humour and incorporating warnings about encountering misinformation. Trying to debunk misinformation, informational approaches, and communicating uncertainty had mixed results.

CONCLUSION

This review identifies some promising communication strategies for addressing vaccine misinformation. Interventions should be further evaluated by measuring effects on vaccine uptake, rather than distal outcomes such as knowledge and attitudes, in quasi-experimental and real-life contexts.

The independent effects of source expertise and trustworthiness on retraction believability: The moderating role of vested interest

Past research suggests that the trustworthiness of a source issuing a retraction of misinformation impacts retraction effectiveness, whereas source expertise does not. However, this prior research largely used expert sources who had a vested interest in issuing the retraction, which might have reduced the impact of those expert sources. We predicted that source expertise can impact a retraction's believability independent of trustworthiness, but that this is most likely when the source does not have a vested interest in issuing a retraction. Study 1 demonstrated that retractions from an expert source are believed more and lead to less continued belief in misinformation than retractions from an inexpert source while controlling for perceptions of trustworthiness. Additionally, Study 1 demonstrated that this only occurs when the source had no vested interest in issuing the retraction. Study 2 found similar effects using a design containing manipulations of both expertise and trustworthiness. These results suggest that source expertise can impact retraction effectiveness and that vested interest is a variable that is critical to consider when determining when this will occur.

Forming and updating vaccination beliefs: does the continued effect of misinformation depend on what we think we know?

People may cling to false facts even in the face of updated and correct information. The present study confronted misconceptions about the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and a novel, fictitious Zika vaccine. Two experiments are reported, examining misconceptions as motivated by a poor risk understanding (Experiment 1, N = 130) or the exposure to conspiracy theories (Experiment 2, N = 130). Each experiment featured a Misinformation condition, wherein participants were presented with fictitious stories containing some misinformation (Experiment 1) and rumours focused on conspiracy theories (Experiment 2) that were later retracted by public health experts and a No misinformation condition, containing no reference to misinformation and rumours. Across experiments, participants were more hesitant towards vaccines when exposed to stories including vaccine misinformation. Notwithstanding, our results suggest a positive impact of a trusted source communicating the scientific consensus about vaccines. Zika virus represents a particular case showing how missing information can easily evolve into misinformation. Implications for effective dissemination of information are discussed.

Vaccination against misinformation: The inoculation technique reduces the continued influence effect

The continued influence effect of misinformation (CIE) is a phenomenon in which certain information, although retracted and corrected, still has an impact on event reporting, reasoning, inference, and decisions. The main goal of this paper is to investigate to what extent this effect can be reduced using the procedure of inoculation and how it can be moderated by the reliability of corrections' sources. The results show that the reliability of corrections' sources did not affect their processing when participants were not inoculated. However, inoculated participants relied on misinformation less when the correction came from a highly credible source. For this source condition, as a result of inoculation, a significant increase in belief in retraction, as well as a decrease in belief in misinformation was also found. Contrary to previous reports, belief in misinformation rather than belief in retraction predicted reliance on misinformation. These findings are of both great practical importance as certain boundary conditions for inoculation efficiency have been discovered to reduce the impact of the continued influence of misinformation, and theoretical, as they provide insight into the mechanisms behind CIE. The results were interpreted in terms of existing CIE theories as well as within the remembering framework, which describes the conversion from memory traces to behavioral manifestations of memory.