ERIC Number: EJ1472525
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Dec
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2365-7464
Available Date: 2025-05-28
Processing of Veracity Cues: How Processing Difficulty Affects the Memory of Event Description and Judgment of Confidence
Nicole Antes1; Stephan Schwan1; Markus Huff1,2
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, v10 Article 22 2025
In today's rapid dissemination of information, discerning truth from falsehood is crucial. We investigated how cues signaling information veracity influence memory accuracy and confidence in coherent narratives. Two studies manipulated perceptual difficulty in distinguishing true-labeled from false-labeled information in event descriptions using font color as a cue. Study 1 (N = 198) revealed that the presence of veracity cues reduces memory accuracy for the event description. Study 2 (N = 248) showed that when differentiating veracity cues became more challenging, false-labeled information was more frequently misidentified and less accurately remembered. Confidence ratings decreased with the presence of veracity cues (Study 1) but resulted in disproportionately high confidence for sentences labeled as false that were confused as true (Study 2). False-labeled information was less retained, yielding initially more accurate event representation. However, once stored, false-labeled information was recalled with confidence as true, leading to a false representation. Therefore, mechanisms such as highlighting the veracity of information within coherent news articles on social media should be used with consideration.
Descriptors: Cognitive Processes, Memory, Cues, Accuracy, Evaluative Thinking, Misconceptions, Bias, Information Literacy, News Reporting, Social Media, Schemata (Cognition), Epistemology, Metacognition, Self Esteem
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/e54py/
Author Affiliations: 1Leibniz-Institut Für Wissensmedien, Tübingen, Germany; 2University of Tübingen, Department of Psychology, Tübingen, Germany