A Signal Detection Approach to Understanding Susceptibility to Misinformation

One of the greatest challenges for the functioning of societies in the information age is the prevalence and impact of misinformation. Concerns over the impact of misinformation have grown considerably as the internet and social media provide a conduit for spreading information widely and rapidly, regardless of its veracity. The current project aims to investigate how people determine whether new information they encounter is correct or incorrect, and how people decide whether to share this information on social media.

Using a formal modeling approach called Signal Detection Theory, the research focuses on three aspects of such judgments: (a) the ability to distinguish between correct and incorrect information, (b) general tendencies to treat information as correct vs. incorrect regardless of veracity, and (c) partisan bias involving a tendency to accept information that is consistent with one's personal beliefs and dismiss information that is inconsistent with one's personal beliefs. The findings are expected to provide valuable insights into why people might be susceptible to misinformation and how it might be possible to reduce the spread of misinformation.

Toward this end, the current project investigates how cognitive and motivational factors jointly influence responses to correct and incorrect information. Across a series of 16 studies, the project addresses the following questions: How well can people distinguish between correct and incorrect information? When are decisions to share information on social media influenced by people's perceptions of accuracy?

Does more elaborate thinking increase people's ability to distinguish between correct and incorrect information? How does elaborate thinking influence partisan bias in responses to belief-congruent and belief-incongruent information? How does greater confidence about one's personal values influence accuracy and partisan bias?

How do echo chambers and prior exposure to information influence people's susceptibility to misinformation? How effective is debunking in reducing susceptibility to misinformation? How does the source of information influence responses to correct and incorrect information?

How can partisan bias in responses to correct and incorrect information be reduced? Project activities also involve training students on using signal detection methods to investigate how people judge information. The project helps to address societal problems that stem from misinformation by investigating the psychological processes that make people susceptible to misinformation.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.