"Questioning" the truth effect: Processing information in interrogative form reduces (but does not cancel)
Simone Mattavelli1,2, Claudia Bianchi3, Matteo Motterlini3
1Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza Dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milan, Italy. simone.mattavelli@unimib.it.
Memory & Cognition
|June 18, 2025
Summary
Processing information as questions, rather than statements, can reduce the "truth effect," where repeated information seems more true. This finding offers new strategies for combating misinformation.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Information Processing
Background:
- The 'truth effect' describes the tendency for people to perceive previously encountered information as more truthful.
- This phenomenon is robust and difficult to mitigate with traditional interventions.
- Understanding factors influencing the truth effect is crucial for addressing misinformation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether processing information in interrogative (question) form can counteract the repetition-induced truth effect.
- To explore the impact of sentence form (declarative vs. interrogative) on the perception of truth after repeated exposure.
- To assess the effectiveness of question-based processing as a debiasing strategy against the truth effect.
Main Methods:
- Three preregistered experiments involving participants (N=100, 325, 235) judging the truth of repeated and unrepeated sentences.
- Manipulation of sentence form: participants processed information in either declarative or interrogative (question) formats.
- Varied exposure and judgment phases for interrogative sentences across experiments to test different processing conditions.
Main Results:
- A significant truth effect was observed for declarative sentences but was substantially reduced or eliminated for interrogative sentences.
- Processing sentences as questions during exposure and judgment significantly counteracted the truth effect compared to declarative processing.
- Repetition had a lesser impact on certainty of truth judgments for interrogative sentences than for declarative sentences.
Conclusions:
- Presenting information in question form can effectively mitigate the truth effect, challenging its resistance to interventions.
- Findings suggest that the cognitive processing associated with questions may inhibit the automatic truth-enhancement mechanism of repetition.
- The results have significant implications for developing debiasing strategies to improve critical evaluation of information.
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