Investigating the Robustness of the Illusory Truth Effect Across Individual Differences in Cognitive Ability, Need for Cognitive Closure, and Cognitive Style | Zendy

De keersmaecker Jonas | Zendy; Dunning David | Zendy; Pennycook Gordon | Zendy; Rand David G. | Zendy; Sanchez Carmen | Zendy; Unkelbach Christian | Zendy; Roets Arne | Zendy

Open Access

Investigating the Robustness of the Illusory Truth Effect Across Individual Differences in Cognitive Ability, Need for Cognitive Closure, and Cognitive Style

Author(s) -

De keersmaecker Jonas,

Dunning David,

Pennycook Gordon,

Rand David G.,

Sanchez Carmen,

Unkelbach Christian,

Roets Arne

Publication year - 2020

Publication title -

personality and social psychology bulletin

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 2.584

H-Index - 193

eISSN - 1552-7433

pISSN - 0146-1672

DOI - 10.1177/0146167219853844

Subject(s) - moderation , cognition , cognitive style , psychology , cognitive psychology , social psychology , closure (psychology) , style (visual arts) , need for cognition , archaeology , neuroscience , economics , market economy , history

People are more inclined to believe that information is true if they have encountered it before. Little is known about whether this illusory truth effect is influenced by individual differences in cognition. In seven studies (combined N = 2,196), using both trivia statements (Studies 1-6) and partisan news headlines (Study 7), we investigate moderation by three factors that have been shown to play a critical role in epistemic processes: cognitive ability (Studies 1, 2, 5), need for cognitive closure (Study 1), and cognitive style, that is, reliance on intuitive versus analytic thinking (Studies 1, 3-7). All studies showed a significant illusory truth effect, but there was no evidence for moderation by any of the cognitive measures across studies. These results indicate that the illusory truth effect is robust to individual differences in cognitive ability, need for cognitive closure, and cognitive style.

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Having issues? You can contact us here

Accelerating Research