Foreign language reduces the longevity of the repetition-based truth effect

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Linguistic Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Judgment biases can be reduced when problems are presented in a foreign language.
• This foreign-language effect is typically studied with emotional content.
• The repetition-based truth effect, where statement repetition enhances perceived truth, is an emotionally neutral bias.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the foreign-language effect on the repetition-based truth effect.
• To determine if processing emotionally neutral statements in a foreign language influences the truth effect.
• To examine the role of retention interval in the foreign-language truth effect.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted.
• Experiment 1 used Hungarian (native) and English (foreign) languages.
• Experiment 2 used German (native) and English (foreign) languages, manipulating retention intervals (immediate vs. two weeks).

Main Results:

• Experiment 1 found no language moderation of the truth effect.
• In Experiment 2, no language effect was observed for immediate repetitions.
• After a two-week interval, the truth effect was significantly smaller for foreign-language statements compared to native-language statements.

Conclusions:

• Language does not moderate the truth effect for immediate repetitions.
• A two-week delay reveals a diminished truth effect for foreign-language statements.
• Findings suggest faster semantic memory decay for foreign-language statements compared to native-language statements.