You can't not believe everything you read

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Philosophy of Mind

Background:

• Philosophers like Descartes and Spinoza debated whether comprehension necessitates belief.
• Spinoza argued that understanding requires initial belief, a concept termed 'assent'.
• This research investigates the cognitive processes underlying assertion comprehension and belief formation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the hypothesis that comprehension inherently involves an initial belief in the information.
• To examine the effects of cognitive load and time pressure on belief formation during comprehension.
• To determine if individuals can disbelieve information when cognitive resources are constrained.

Main Methods:

• Three experiments exposed participants to false information about individuals (a defendant or student).
• Cognitive load and time pressure manipulations were employed to impede cognitive processing.
• Participants made judgments (sentencing or liking) based on the provided information.

Main Results:

• Both cognitive load and time pressure significantly increased participants' belief in the false information.
• Participants under these constraints were more likely to use the false information in their judgments.
• These conditions hindered the process of 'unbelieving' the comprehended assertions.

Conclusions:

• Comprehension appears to include an initial, automatic belief in the information presented.
• Cognitive constraints (load, time pressure) prevent the necessary cognitive step of disbelieving information.
• Findings support Spinoza's view that comprehension involves an initial belief that requires effort to disconfirm.