Self-referential questions protect against gullibility about fake news, researchers at the University of Texas and the McCombs School of Business have found.

Users of social media, where false information is often spread, should therefore simply ask themselves how they believe they know that claims are actually true. Based on this, they should then attempt to answer this question based on personal knowledge. This activates the critical thinking centers of the brain and challenges prejudices.

Self-critical thinking to expose fake news

“We are all at risk of believing misinformation. When we ask ourselves these so-called self-referential questions, we can think more critically.”

Tricia Moravec

She and her colleagues have found that people blindly accept statements that correspond to their beliefs when they don't ask themselves the question in question. In tests, researchers asked participants to rate randomly selected headlines based on their truthfulness and credibility.

Using a modeled social media page with left- and right-leaning headlines from a made-up news source, the researchers asked participants to rate their personal knowledge of a particular news story and then ask themselves, “Is the information correct?”
The participants had multiple choices including:

  • “I have personal knowledge of this story and it is true.”
  • “I have personal knowledge and it is wrong”
  • “I have no personal knowledge, but it seems to be true”
  • “I have no personal knowledge, but it seems to be wrong”
  • “I can’t say whether it’s true or false.”

Brain centers activated

Study participants wore an EEG headset so researchers could measure neurophysiological changes as subjects rated the messages, half of which were true and half of which were false. Among those who evaluated articles while questioning their own knowledge of the topic, the scientists found increased activation in several parts of the brain associated with cognitive activity.

The question led some participants to realize that they had no way of assessing the credibility of the message firsthand. They thought more deeply about the news rather than automatically assuming that articles that were consistent with their beliefs were true.

In addition, the researchers found a lasting effect: participants continued to analyze content more critically than before, even when they were not asked to do so.

If you are not sure and want to check whether you have correctly classified claims as true or fake news, you can always check this in our fact checks: Mimikama fact checks . Or you can also report some to us for review: Mimikama reporting form

Source: press release


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