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Monetary incentives do not reduce the repetition-induced truth effect.

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Monetary incentives do not reduce the truth-by-repetition effect, where people believe repeated information more readily. This robust cognitive bias persists even when financial consequences are involved, impacting judgments of truth.

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Cognitive illusionsConspiracy theoriesFake newsIncentivized respondingMisinformationRepetitionTruth effect

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics

Background:

  • The truth-by-repetition effect describes the tendency for individuals to perceive repeated information as more true than novel information.
  • This cognitive bias is significant for understanding the spread of misinformation, fake news, and conspiracy theories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether increased motivation, specifically through monetary incentives, can mitigate the truth-by-repetition effect.
  • To determine if financial rewards influence participants' truth judgments and their reliance on repetition versus factual knowledge.

Main Methods:

  • A standard truth paradigm was employed, involving presentation and judgment phases with both true and false statements.
  • Participants' truth judgments were incentivized with monetary rewards for every response.
  • A preregistered, high-powered experiment was conducted to test the influence of these incentives.

Main Results:

  • Monetary incentives did not significantly alter the percentage of 'true' judgments or overall correct responses.
  • Despite longer response times in incentivized conditions and evidence of statement knowledge, the repetition effect remained.
  • Participants continued to exhibit a bias towards judging repeated information as true, irrespective of financial motivation.

Conclusions:

  • The findings demonstrate the robustness of the truth-by-repetition effect, as it is not diminished by monetary consequences.
  • This highlights the potential for significant hazardous effects when misinformation is strategically repeated.
  • Cognitive biases related to repetition may override financial motivations in truth judgments.