A study in which participants were primed to think about accuracy while choosing whether to share a headline on Facebook showed a significant increase in positive sharing discernment over participants who were not primed. Primed participants were less likely than unprimed participants to share false headlines, and equally likely to share true headlines. A follow-up experiment shared two untrustworthy sources—one accompanied by an accuracy prompt—and found 2.8 times higher levels of positive sharing discernment towards the source accompanied by the accuracy prompt. Results suggest that misinformation sharing is often caused by distraction from the concept of accuracy, especially on social media.

Inattention-Based Account and Sharing Discernment

- Make accuracy of information a goal and monitor achievement of this goal
- Develop strategies for obtaining accurate information
- Value the effort required to accurately evaluate information


Pepperdine University

- Cognitive biases 
- Accuracy of information is not a priority when gaining knowledge 
- The source of information is unknown or unreliable 
- Sources are often listed after the information has already been presented and embedded into one's knowledge base
- Evidence for a piece of information is not relevant  but gives the illusion of support 
- Alternative viewpoints are not considered
- Monitoring the accuracy of information takes great effort
- Working against one's own biases is difficult

Reasons for inaccurate evaluation of information

Britt, M. A., Rouet, J.-F., Blaum, D., & Millis, K. (2019). A Reasoned Approach to Dealing With Fake News. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 6(1), 94–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732218814855

A Reasoned Approach to Dealing With Fake News

Requirements for accurate evaluation of information

- Educate the public about cognitive biases
- Teach techniques for assessing the quality and relevance of sources 
- Inform the public about what constitutes a reason-based argument
- Teach applied reason and critical thinking

Ways to mitigate inaccurate evaluation of information

- The story aligns with the reader's own experience and/or opinions
- The story  is highlighting an issue the reader believes is being suppressed/underreported
- The story includes data and graphs that the reader finds convincing

Common Reasons Given for Believing Fake News Stories

- The story aligns with the reader's own experience and/or opinions
- The story is highlighting an issue the reader believes is being suppressed/underreported
- The story includes data and graphs that the reader finds convincing

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